The Rove Interview Materials, Working Thread

The House Judiciary Committee has just released all its materials from the Rove and Miers interviews. They are linked below.

I’m going to take a quick glance before I hop in the car to drive to Pittsburgh.  But I’ll take a closer look tonight.

BTW, here’s what HJC sent out in the press release.

Key new facts revealed in the materials released today include:[

•    2005 White House “Decision” to fire David Iglesias  – It has previously been known that New Mexico Republicans pressed for Iglesias to be removed because they did not like his decisions on vote fraud cases.  New White House documents show that Rove and his office were involved in this effort no later than May 2005 (months earlier than previously known) – for example, in May and June 2005, Rove aide Scott Jennings sent emails to Tim Griffin (also in Rove’s office) asking “what else I can do to move this process forward” and stressing that “I would really like to move forward with getting rid of NM US ATTY.”   In June 2005, Harriet Miers emailed that a “decision” had been made to replace Iglesias.  At this time, DOJ gave Iglesias top rankings, so this decision was clearly not just the result of the White House following the Department’s lead as Rove and Miers have maintained.1 

•    Iglesias criticized by Rove aide for not “doing his job on” Democratic Congressional Candidate Patricia Madrid  –   An October 2006 email chain begun by Representative Heather Wilson criticized David Iglesias for not bringing politically useful public corruption prosecutions in the run up to the 2006 elections.  Scott Jennings forwarded Wilson’s email to Karl Rove and complained that Iglesias had been “shy about doing his job on Madrid,” Wilson’s opponent in the 2006 Congressional race.  Just weeks after this email, Iglesias’ name was placed on the final firing list.2

•    An “agitated” Rove pressed Harriet Miers to do something about Iglesias just weeks before Iglesias was placed on the removal list – Karl Rove phoned Harriet Miers during a visit to New Mexico in September 2006 – according to Miers’ testimony, Rove was “agitated” and told her that Iglesias was “a serious problem and he wanted something done about it.”3

•    Senator Domenici personally asked Bush’s Chief of Staff Josh Bolten to have Iglesias replaced  –In October 2006, Senator Domenici stepped up his campaign to have Iglesias replaced.  According to White House phone logs and emails, as well as Rove’s own testimony, Domenici spoke with President Bush’s Chief of Staff Josh Bolten about Iglesias on October 5, 2006, and during October 2006, Domenici or his staff spoke with Karl Rove at least 4 times.4

•    Todd Graves removed in Rove-approved deal with Republican Senator – Kansas City US Attorney Todd Graves was removed as part of a White House-brokered deal with US Senator Kit Bond.  In exchange for the Administration firing Graves, Senator Bond agreed to lift his hold on an Arkansas judge nominated to the Eighth Circuit federal appeals court. A White House email stated that “Karl is fine” with the proposal.5                             

•    Miers obtained favorable statement on Rick Renzi in violation of DOJ policy  – When rumors of the FBI investigation of Rep. Rick Renzi surfaced in October, 2006, one of Rove’s subordinates contacted Harriet Miers, who called Deputy Attorney General McNulty seeking a possible statement that would have “vindicated” Renzi.  Even though this was contrary to standard DOJ policy, such a statement was issued several days later.6

“I have provided a copy of the materials released today to special U.S. Attorney Nora Dannehy to assist in her effort to determine whether federal criminal charges are appropriate and to pursue any such charges,” said Conyers.

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163 replies
  1. emptywheel says:

    This is kind of non-responsive:

    Q Did you have any other responsibilities that brought you into contact with the Department of Justice or White House Counsel’s Office?
    A Justice Department I was occasionally in contact with. Counsel’s Office in touch with on a more frequent basis. I mean it is on selection of judicial candidates and issues that — a wide range of issues that the Counsel’s Office might have a seat at the table. Q In terms of the Department of Justice, beyond the selection of U.S. Attorneys, what other responsibilities brought you in contact with DOJ? A The policy process, if there were issues that were being discussed at the White House during the time that I was director of the policy process that I had to make certain that Justice had a seat at the table for issues that touched them, for example immigration, where Justice Department’s input on the drafting of immigration proposals was vital.

    Q What other policy issues other than immigration brought you into contact with DOJ? A You know, I couldn’t recall a specific list. I mean Justice had a seat at the table on a lot of issues

  2. emptywheel says:

    Yep, he didn’t want to talk about this. Wish Whitehouse were there.

    Q When you dealt directly with Justice, who did you generally deal with?

    A You know, I would — my contact was not significant. And when I did do it, it would generally be in informal conversations with either Alberto Gonzales or his predecessor when they were attending meetings at the White House.

      • Nola Sue says:

        Yep. I had a similar reaction reading this…

        Karl Rove phoned Harriet Miers during a visit to New Mexico in September 2006 – according to Miers’ testimony, Rove was “agitated” and told her that Iglesias was “a serious problem and he wanted something done about it.”

        Hard to imagine a president’s aide ordering the top WH lawyers around so blithely. Perfectly embodies how the Bush admin prioritized trivial stuff like the Constitution and rule of law. The supposedly top lawyers were just errand boys (girl).

  3. emptywheel says:

    I jumped ahead.

    Q What was your role in the selection of Patrick Fitzgerald as U.S. Attorney in the Northern District of Illinois?

    A My job was to talk to Senator Peter Fitzgerald, who had settled on two nominees, one for the Southern District and one for the Northern District, Patrick Fitzgerald being for the Northern District, and to try and discourage him from submitting only one name for each slot to the White House as acceptable.

    Whenever possible, we, you know, obviously solicited names from Members of Congress, from Members of the Senate. Senator Fitzgerald’s attitude was, “I’m not going to submit multiple names. I will take only one name, and this is all that is going to be acceptable.” And we asked him to submit multiple names, and we also asked him to think about people from within the districts. Our predilection was to have people from within the district selected. We thought it, you know, encouraged a civic-minded attitude among lawyers. It made certain that you had some fresh blood that would flow in.

    If you pick people from outside the district, they tend to be career prosecutors. And Senator Fitzgerald was particularly unimpressed by this. He said that, in Chicago, the politics in Chicago were such that no U.S. Attorney from Chicago could exist without being subverted by the political influence peddlers in Chicago, that they would be bought off by the big law firms and the Chicago Democrat machine. And so he was going to only provide us one name for each, the Northern District and the Southern District.

    Following my very effective telephone conversation with him, he responded by going out and announcing to the press that the President was nominating his two names from the Northern and Southern Districts.

    Q Did you oppose the selection of Patrick Fitzgerald? A That wasn’t mine — once that conversation was over, it wasn’t mine to have an opinion. I believe the President has a right to appoint. And that means that Senators have, by tradition, the right to recommend. But they are usurping a presidential right when they go out and name the nominee before the President has even had a chance to evaluate multiple names and settle on who he wants and do the necessary staff work to arrive at it.

    Fortunately, Senator Fitzgerald recommended two good names, and both of them worked out. But it was an unusual process that involved, in my opinion, a congressional usurpation of a presidential power, which probably finds no attraction in this room except for the representatives from the Obama White House. And they will come to agree with the view more and more as time goes on.

    Q Is it true you told the Senator Peter Fitzgerald that the selection of Patrick Fitzgerald ticked off the base?

    A No. I’ve seen his public comments, and they are inaccurate. And I’ve told him so.

    Q Let’s take a look at Document 71. This is a Chicago Tribune article from March 14, 2007, where Senator Fitzgerald is quoted in, I think, the sixth paragraph as saying, “Rove said to me that the Fitzgerald appointment got great headlines for you but it ticked off the base.” Did you ever say that?

    A No.

    Q Do you know why Senator Fitzgerald would be under the impression that you did?

    A No. I chalk it up to an overactive imagination. It is one of the reasons why I said no when he asked me to come bank at his bank when he was in Virginia.

    • Leen says:

      “But it was an unusual process that involved, in my opinion, a congressional usurpation of a presidential power, which probably finds no attraction in this room except for the representatives from the Obama White House.”

      Rove’s arrogance and nerve knows no bounds

      ————————————————————

      Q Do you know why Senator Fitzgerald would be under the impression that you did?

      A No. I chalk it up to an overactive imagination. It is one of the reasons why I said no when he asked me to come bank at his bank when he was in Virginia.

      ——————————————————–
      WTF was this about? Totally out of context..WTF
      Give Rove some sodium pentothol all ready

      • Gitcheegumee says:

        On July 29, 2005, Ralston testified before federal grand jury prosecutor, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, investigating whether government officials illegally disclosed the identity of CIA officer Valerie Wilson. Matthew Cooper made a call sometime in July 2003 to Karl Rove but there were no records of the call. Ralston claimed there were no records because they had transferred his call.

        On January 3, 2006, Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty to conspiracy, and related charges, and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in a corruption probe in Washington.

        In September 2006, the House Government Reform Committee released a report on Abramoff’s dealings with the White House.

        Ralston resigns October,06.

        In May 2007, Ralston attempted to seek immunity before testifying in front of Representative Henry Waxman’s House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Ralston was deposed in private before asking for immunity.

        On May 10, 2007, Ralston testified to the US Committee on Oversight and Government Reform that Karl Rove used an Republican National Committee (RNC) email account daily for most of his official communications as Deputy White House Chief of Staff for Strategic Planning and Senior Advisor to the President in a possible violation of the Presidential Records Act of 1978.Wikipedia

  4. perris says:

    just got started and can’t spend too much time on this right now either but here at the very top;

    I was a general adviser to the President on subjects that he deemed to be within my area.

    that statement gives rove cart blanch

    • freepatriot says:

      I was a general adviser to the President on subjects that he deemed to be within my area.

      that reminds me of someone

      a person from the past

      who had a similar job

      ever heard of martin bormann

      I’m sorry I violated that “Nazi” rule, but bormann is the only sample that fits on herr kkkarl

  5. emptywheel says:

    Damn, I would kiss Peter FItzgerald if he had this taped.

    Q Is there any reason why Senator Fitzgerald would understand that the base of Illinois Republicans would be upset by his choice?

    A Well, I’m not certain that is accurate, but obviously Mr. Fitzgerald prosecuted Governor Ryan, you know, who was a political opponent of Senator Fitzgerald, and neither one of them liked each other. And I suspect this was more than just a professional delight to Senator Fitzgerald. But this comment is made out of thin air. In fact, you know, I have no idea why he would say it, nor do — he said also in the same article that he believed I was trying to influence the selection in reaction to pressure from Representative Dennis Hastert. In other articles, he has said that Dennis Hastert was trying to install his own choice, which is again completely inaccurate. Then-Speaker Hastert was keenly aware of senatorial prerogatives.

  6. emptywheel says:

    This is interesting for two reasons. First, for the interjection of Emmet Flood–who’s there representing Bush (and how, btw, is at the same firm as Cheney’s lawyer, Terry O’Donnell). And for Rove’s “that I can recall.”

    Q Turn with me, if you would, to Document 73. This is an excerpt from a trial transcript of the U.S. v. Antoin Rezko. If you would turn to Page 129, Line 10, through Page 130, Line 12, and take a moment to review that. In the criminal trial of Mr. Rezko, a witness named Ali Ata testified in 2004 Mr. Rezko told him that he had just finished meeting with Mr. Kjellander, that there will be a change in the U.S. Attorney’s office come the new administration and that Mr. Kjellander will talk to Karl Rove and make a change in the U.S. Attorney’s office. Was that accurate?

    A No.

    Q You never had that conversation?

    A No.

    Q If you would, take a look at Document 72. And you’re quite certain you never had that conversation?

    A Yes.

    Mr. Flood. Can I just seek clarity here? Does the question mean what Mr. Rove said to Mr. Kjellander, what Mr. Kjellander’s allegedly repeated to Mr. Rezko but Mr. Rezko is alleged to have repeated to an unnamed person, I didn’t catch the name, which he then rendered as testimony in the case. Is that the question?

    Mr. Luskin. Obviously, we don’t know whether Mr. Ata said itand we don’t know whether Mr. Rezko said it. The only thing that Mr. Rove can speak to is whether or not he had a conversation with Mr. Kjellander, as it is alleged by this, sort of, you know, double string of supposed people who heard it. And I think his answer to that was absolutely not. Mr. Schiff. Let’s have Mr. Rove answer the question.

    BY MR. SCHIFF: Q And I can ask it again if you’d like. Would you like me to ask it again?

    A I think I said no before. But ask again.

    Q I think you said no also. And I just want to be certain. You are quite clear you never had a conversation with Mr. Kjellander about removing Mr. Fitzgerald?

    A No, I had no such conversation that I recall.

  7. emptywheel says:

    Rove is the funny!

    Q Can you think of any reason that Mr. Fitzgerald would be suggested by Mr. Sampson for potential removal other than his work investigating White House officials in the Plame matter?

    A No.

    Q You can’t think of any other reason?

    A Look, I’m not aware of his performance except in one very personal way. So I can’t comment on his broader efforts.

    Of course ROve manages to avoid saying “yeah, I can think of a reason to fire him. Because he had(s) my buddy Kjellander in his sights.”

      • rosalind says:

        ah, it’s the Netroots Nation Document Dump…taking the place of the “pass the Constitution-destroying bill quick the DFHs are all distracted at Yearly Kos” legislation from previous years.

  8. MadDog says:

    Note that appearing for the Minority (i.e. representing them in the Rove interview) is one Richard Alan Hertling, Republican Deputy Chief Of Staff/Policy Director (page 2 of July 7 interview).

    And from the Wiki entry on Hertling:

    …He is also former Chief of Staff to Sen. Peter G. Fitzgerald (R-IL)…

    …Hertling has been determined to be involved with the dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy.[citation needed] He conferred with and corresponded with Kyle Sampson in 2007 regarding the firing of the U.S. attorneys.[1]

    Can one say that the foxes Repugs were making sure to guard the henhouse?

    Yes, I thought one can. *g*

  9. bmaz says:

    Um, I am just arriving at the party, but what is the status of the Bolten Subpoena Duces Tecum resopnse material? In here, not in here, coming not coming; what?

  10. bmaz says:

    Also, I am currently hiring for the position of reader to read this junk to Marcy as she is driving and transcribe her comments. Salary payable in either American or Canadian hubcaps……

    • Petrocelli says:

      Hmmm, we could do a group enactment … I call dibs on the voice(s) of Norton, Ernie and/or Miss Piggy [don’t ask ! ]

  11. readerOfTeaLeaves says:

    Q …This is a Chicago Tribune article from March 14, 2007, where Senator Fitzgerald is quoted in, I think, the sixth paragraph as saying, “Rove said to me that the [PA Pat] Fitzgerald appointment got great headlines for you but it ticked off the base.” Did you ever say that?

    A No.

    Q Do you know why Senator Fitzgerald would be under the impression that you did?

    A No. I chalk it up to an overactive imagination. It is one of the reasons why I said no when he asked me to come bank at his bank when he was in Virginia.

    Would love to be a fly on the wall when the Sen. Peter Fitzgerald crowd sees that K-k-k-karl Rove was dissing him for having ‘an overactive imagination’.

    Yeowsa.

    • Nola Sue says:

      Q …This is a Chicago Tribune article from March 14, 2007, where Senator Fitzgerald is quoted in, I think, the sixth paragraph as saying, “Rove said to me that the [PA Pat] Fitzgerald appointment got great headlines for you but it ticked off the base.”

      Guess it’s too much to wish that fmr Sen Fitz might respond publicly?

      And another thing. Why is that only Repubs worry about ticking off their base?

      • readerOfTeaLeaves says:

        Post Howard Dean, the Dems have a big enough tent that they don’t have to wet their pants about pandering to a ‘base’.

        The amount of focus that Rove has always put on judgeships and voting fraud has become increasingly intriguing. More evidence, IMHO, that the man is incapable of any healthy sense of social responsibility — he’s always, everywhere, totally about gaming any system that he encounters.

        At least, that’s the pattern that I see when I read about him time, after time, after time.

        It’s never about building a humane, decent world.
        It’s always about tactics and gaming a system.

        Quite the social parasite, is Rove.
        His claims of ‘pissing off the base’ are probably his own delusional way of finding a handerchief to cover his own interests. ‘The base’ was code for Rove’s ego a lot of the time, as near as I can fathom.

  12. pseudonymousinnc says:

    The big unanswered questions from Mini-Me Kyle Sampson’s interview (and the Jennings/Griffin followups) that may be addressed here:

    Who had authority to put names on the Magic List? Who had authority to take names off the Magic List? Who had the authority to sign off on the Magic List?

  13. emptywheel says:

    Okay folks! Signing off until I get to Pittsburgh.

    You know the drill: the liquor cabinet has been stocked from the LAST time it mysteriously got emptied when I was out of town. bmaz has the key. I’ll follow up on tihs tonight in P-Burgh provided I don’t get forced into drinking (it is one night early tonight, so…). And take care!!

  14. Sparkatus says:

    EW, Mary, Bmaz or anyone else caring to weigh in,

    I was just having a conversation with someone who has just been placed on a grand jury and we got to how they operate and eventually to talking about “runaway” juries. It strikes me that if I were on a grand jury I don’t think I’d even know where to begin if I’d decided “hey, I have reason to believe that a crime was committed by X (Rove, Cheney, Addington in authorizing retribution for Iglesias/outing Plame/authorizing torture) and feel it is appropriate for the grand jury on which I sit to investigate”. I was on a grand jury in 2003 and am probably coming up on a new round of civic duty sooner rather than later — in NYC we get called all the time.

    Do you think you could put together a list of specific actions you might undertake if you were a grand juror who wanted to take a look into these” allegations”? Beginning with: is there even a remote possibility that a grand jury without an ADA actively directing it could start investigating whether to bring charges…

    If you only need a couple people out of the 18 on any given grand jury who knew exactly what they are entitled to do and enough juries are paneled, you just might hit the double bank shot. But never would happen without a playbook.

    • TheraP says:

      That is a brilliant idea, IMVHO. I was thinking the other day that even if Holder appoints someone to do a circumscribed investigation of torture, what if a grand jury ran with it? But the idea of getting this out to people, just in case of “whatever” is brilliant!

  15. Mary says:

    Karl Rove phoned Harriet Miers during a visit to New Mexico in September 2006 – according to Miers’ testimony, Rove was “agitated” and told her that Iglesias was “a serious problem and he wanted something done about it.”

    One thing a bit odd about that is that Matthew Friedrich (a Gonzales aide) said he had a Nov 2006 breakfast meeting with Pat Rogers (lawyer/pol) and Mickey Barnett (lobbyist/pol) and they were both pressuring him then. He also says that they said they had been talking to Domenici and Rove, but back then Rove was denying that he spoke with Rogers or Barnett and he couldn’t remember talking to Weh (who said he aksed for Iglesias to be gotten rid of on more than one occassion and on the last one, in “late” 2006, when he was meeting with Rove at the WH, Rove told Weh that Iglesias was gone.) SO I guess I’ll be looking for the Rogers, Barnett and Weh names in addition to Domenici, Miers, etc. And another name would be Paul Kennedy.

    I can’t get the old McClatchey link to work, but this link goes to a site that has McClatchey’s older story on a lof of the NM names involved

    http://www.neilrogers.com/news…..31209.html

    I like the description of a 9 donor, 5,000/plate affair with Rove that Pat Rogers says he just “can’t remember” whether he attended, but he’s sure if he did that he never discussed Iglesias with Rove (although he told Friederich in Nov that he had …)

    I see that McNulty was Miers go-to guy to get the statement on Renzi. I still would like to know what happened to the Comey to Margolis delegation once McNulty got in as DAG and/or any interaction between McNutly, Margolis, Fitzgerald on it all. Probably nothing since it has never come up, but I can just see McNulty pulling back the delegation from Margolis and playing games for his bosses.

    • readerOfTeaLeaves says:

      Hmmmm… McNulty? Lemme see if that name turns up in the EW Ghorbanifar Timeline… Why, lookee, it does! (Surprise!)

      August 27, 2004: Rosen and Weissman interviewed by FBI; Rosen warns Israeli of investigation

      August 27, 2004: News of AIPAC investigation leaked; Paul McNulty put in charge of case

      August 29-20, 2004: Feith, Luti, Rodman interviewed about whether they had authorized Franklin’s leaks to AIPAC

      September-October 2004: Through Michael Ledeen’s intercession, Plato Cacheris agrees to represent Franklin pro bono

      May 3, 2005: Franklin charged with espionage in sealed complaint

      August 2005: Feith leaves DOD

      September 9, 2005: Roberts requests DOD IG investigation into “unlawful” activities of OUSD(P)

      September 22, 2005: Levin requests DOD IG investigation into “improper” activities of OUSD(P)

      November 1, 2005: Harry Reid shuts down Senate in effort to restart Phase II

      November 2005: DOD OIG begins investigation into Feith, stalling the SSCI investigation into Feith [My Note: After Harry Reid shut down the Senate, and over a year after McNulty was put in charge of the AIPAC case.]

      January 2006: Jello Jay becomes Chair SSCI (Pat Roberts quits Committee, Kit Bond becomes Ranking Member)
      ============================

      So McNulty was also keeping an eye on Renzi’s problems? Renzi of ManTech (?sp??) linkages? ManTech the huge surveillance op out in Arizona?

      Boy, howdy — talk about your linkages and dots that must surely connect in one way or another…. yeowsa!!!

    • readerOfTeaLeaves says:

      Probably a few smoldering wrecks.
      And a few embers that need to be stirred up in order to flame up enough to enlighten.

  16. Mary says:

    Ah – memories. Looking at some of the emails, I’m remembering that other bit of DOJ subterfuge, where they used Specter to pull off the flim flam on the Patriot Act revision that ended up allowing AGAG to appoint whoever he wanted for however long he wanted and Senate advice and consent be damned.

    Of course Specter’s a Democrat now, so it’s all different. Or not.

  17. prostratedragon says:

    I’m skimming the White House Part 11 bundle. Early 2007 material, concerning meetings or appearances before SJC (McNulty) and HJC (Moschella), and other aspects of info flow, as they (vaguely) realize that there’s some danger of losing control.

    Key grunts: Scott Jennings, Christopher Oprison.

    early concerns about the question of job performance showed up in connection with Bud Cummings (USA at Little Rock); see letter to AG Gonzales from Sen. Pryor, etc., pages 158—64. Memo (page 154, Jan. 18) from Oprison to Miers and Kelley: “I told Congressman Boozman we were in agreement that, to the extent the White House provides comment on the circumstances of any US Attorney departures, the comment would include no reference to job performance.”

    Second-hand via Sampson (page 92), Rove volunteering his aid in negotiations over the vacant LA district USA post.

    Rove (page 150, Jan. 16) seeming to give clearance to a letter from the USAG to Sen. Leahy regarding the USA disclosures; Candida Wolff also signed off.

  18. WTFOver says:

    OT

    Michigan State Police Trooper Busted For Abusing Fusion Center Database

    http://www.theoaklandpress.com…..323885.txt

    A Michigan State Police trooper is on suspension after being charged with improperly using a statewide computerized database.

    Trooper Stephen Anderson was arraigned July 22 in 52-2 District on a misdemeanor charge of unauthorized disclosure of LEIN — the Law Enforcement Information Network.

    The computerized information system, which includes personal information and criminal histories, isn’t open to the public. Michigan State Police declined to comment, saying only that an internal investigation was conducted prior to the charge being brought against Anderson.

  19. TarheelDem says:

    The RNC 1 PDF has this introduction:

    As part of its investigation into the Siegelman matter, the Committee obtained emails and documents sent by White House personnel using Republican National Committee communications equipment during the relevant time period that included the word “Siegelman.” The Republican National Committee produced over 3,000 pages of such materials, which are copied here.

    • readerOfTeaLeaves says:

      …obtained emails and documents sent by White House personnel using Republican National Committee communications equipment during the relevant time period that included the word “Siegelman.” The Republican National Committee produced over 3,000 pages of such materials…

      Brilliant catch TarheelDem!

      And now, where’d bmaz put the damn olives?! I think this lil’ gem calls for a very dry martini, with olives.

      • TarheelDem says:

        Over three of the PDF files, there is no there there yet. Political operatives in RNC reporting to political aides in White House, probably for Rove’s information. Briefings about events in Alabama (with very careful editing on the RNC side for informing the WH) and scads of national tracking polls. But that’s only over three files.

  20. prostratedragon says:

    WH-11, pages 221 to 231. Seems that the WH first gauged the size of their political problem via Sen. Feinstein on Jan 16. From Kelley to Miers (page 228):

    Kyle asked me to pass this on to you, which shows Senator Feinstein really hitting the Administration hard on the US Attorney issue —after having been briefed by DOJ on why, as a general matter, these things happen and on how this has nothing to do with investigations. DOT strongly urges putting back in the letter language defending these decisions. I’ve told them our position, but, again, they are pushing.

    My emphasis!!! I mean, the very idea!

    • prostratedragon says:

      Subsequent material (pages 234 to 238) predates the Feinstein floor remarks and gives some background to Kelley’s umbrage, e.g. from Kenneth Lee to Jennifer Brosnahan (page 234, Dec 14, 1006):

      (page 234) […] [T]here are vacancies for the U.S. Marshal (S.D. Cal) and the USA (C.D. Cat) — and there’ll soon be vacancies for the USA in S.D. Cal. And N.D. Cal. But these are all handled via the GOP-side of the Parsky Commission.

      and in the memo history,

      [T]he Parsky commission has worked well so far in avoiding any issues with the Dem Senators.

  21. Styve says:

    Wonder if Greg Craig has wet his pants today? Whatever happened to his impending removal from office?

  22. TarheelDem says:

    RNC 1 is a series of edits of the Alabama Briefing on the 2006 race; the ones regarding Siegelman have to do with wording that changed ‘the Democrats might be without a candidate’ language to ‘there are five possible candidates should’. Last item was a spreadsheet of tracking polls nationwide.

    • readerOfTeaLeaves says:

      Now, twolf1, given your ability to portray Mr. Porcine Rove himself in full JabbaTheHut hideousness, if you decide to add a cell phone to that ‘cluster of grapes’ you had Rove eating in that diabolically clever Rove portrait you once inflicted upon the collective eyeballs that assemble round these parts, I earnestly beseech to you to put an very large ALERT! posting.

      It’s only fair; your last image just wiped me clean out of brain bleach… ;-))

      Now, to find where bmaz hid the damn olives…

  23. bobschacht says:

    I don’t see it linked in the comments yet, but here’s the WaPo take on this material:

    Documents Detail Campaign to Oust U.S. Attorney
    A campaign to oust Iglesias intensified after state party officials and GOP members of the congressional delegation apparently concluded he was not pursuing the cases against Democrats in a way that would help then- Rep. Heather Wilson in a tight reelection race, according to interviews and Bush White House e-mails released Tuesday by congressional investigators. The documents place the genesis of Iglesias’s dismissal earlier than previously known. http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..id=topnews

    • FrankProbst says:

      I’m a little surprised they didn’t go with their usual headline: Rove Move Involved in {Insert Scandal} Than Previously Known.

  24. fatster says:

    This one’s for you, EW.

    Dana Perino On US Attorney Firings Scheme: ‘I Can’t Breathe’
    By Justin Elliott – August 11, 2009, 4:58PM

    :This is fun. In the trove of Bush White House documents released by the House Judiciary Committee is an email chain from November 2006 in which Deputy Press Secretary Dana Perino first learns of the plan to purge U.S. Attorneys.

    “Perino’s reaction after getting the heads-up email and the attached “USA replacement plan.doc”?
    “Someone get me an oxygen can!!”‘

    More.

  25. prostratedragon says:

    The official WH spokeshorde did get at least one day heads up that media were going walkabout, if not Sen. Feinstein. Brian Roehrkasse to Dana P. Missle et alia, Jan. 15 2007 (page 280):

    Our new Wall Street Journal beat reporter will publish a story tomorrow about the recent resignations of U.S. Attorneys. Through his reporting, he believes at least six U.S. Attys were forced to resign inclUding USAs Ryan, Cummins, Lam, Bogden, Igelsias [sic] and Charlton. I didn’t confirm, deny or otherwise comment beyond cautioning him that he better be careful his sources are accurate. He did speak with at least Cummins and Igelsias, and possibly others.

    When he first contacted me about this story he raised questions about political motivations and the correlation to the recent legislative changes on the AG’s appointment authority. However, with all of the background

    And so it ends.

    • readerOfTeaLeaves says:

      One of the things that’s always fascinated me about that business with the USAGs is how Josh Marshall at TPM really helped put ‘distributed intellegence’ and ‘blogswarm’ on the map.

      Jay Carney had reported in TIME that his sources on the Hill (including Dems) had said it was no biggie.

      It was Josh Marshall and TPM who put it on the map by collecting info from their (clearly rather well-placed and well-informed) reader network and then assembled the puzzle pieces.

      In Carney’s defense, he did apologize publicly, which was gallant.
      But even DiFi didn’t seem to grasp it all until TPM assembled the mosaic from a lot of diverse reader sources. Really amazing of TPM, and then built upon by FDL.

      • bobschacht says:

        Thank you for making this point. There is a flood of information pouring out of Washington, but it takes cooperative investigations like TPM’s, as well as what takes place here with EW, bmaz and the commenters, to sort it all out, find the significant stuff, and connect the dots.

        Bob in HI

    • readerOfTeaLeaves says:

      Tequila, I got plenty of — especially in football season (damn Huskies!).

      Where’d you put the olives, and has ManTech been listening to us all inquire about how it was that the WH was sending emails via the RNC’s ‘communications equipment’, at the same time that McNulty was sitting on the AIPAC investigation and also, one presumes, babysitting Renzi’s problems? Man, this is a three-martini document dump.

        • PJEvans says:

          If you like single-malt, it’s pretty good. (Also pricey.)

          I’ve tasted good sherry, also: it was like liquid brown sugar, with a kick.
          And black pepper vodka, and chili vodka. (Black pepper works better than chilis.)

  26. Neil says:

    a litle motivation for readers of the following documents …

    * Rove Interview
    * Miers Interview
    * White House Documents
    * RNC Documents

    a tweet from Karl Rove.

  27. Styve says:

    Uh-oh…the media’s complicity in all this crap, as exposed in today’s doc dump, could be like a pulled fire-alarm, and many more will crowd the doors, trying to escape the burning building that was the GOP…

    http://rawstory.com/08/news/20…..ite-house/

    Emails show Washington Post reporter coordinated
    attorney firing story with White House

    By Muriel Kane

    Published: August 11, 2009
    Updated -3274 second ago

    When a scandal involving the Bush administration’s firing of US Attorneys broke in early 2007, initial coverage by the Washington Post supported the idea that the firings had been politically motivated. That approach, however, quickly changed to one that was far more friendly to the White House.

    …Several of these emails suggest coordination between Post reporter John Solomon and Bush administration officials on how to managee the Post’s coverage of the widening scandal.

    In one email to a White House spokesperson, Solomon even appears to be suggesting what spin to apply in order to minimize damage from the revelations.
    […]
    In response, the House and Senate Judiciary Committees had announced “that they would issue subpoenas for testimony from Iglesias and other fired prosecutors if necessary.”

    The next day, as administration officials frantically tried to figure out how to minimize the damage, Solomon wrote to White House spokesperson Dana Perino.

    “I’ve been asked to help out Dan Eggen for a day on the prosecutor purge story and I got some interesting details this morning I’d like to run by you,” Solomon told Perino. “It illuminates the White House role, which has been absent from the media coverage but is the true target for the upcoming congressional hearings by Democrats. … I’ll go over everything I’ve been told and see what we can get formally confirmed.”

    Solomon’s email to Roehrkasse, indicating the approach he intended to take, followed about an hour later.

    Discussion of the proposed article then continued among White House officials throughout the afternoon, with objections being raised in particular to Solomon’s description of the firings as part of “a much larger process that began at the start of 2006 when White House political affairs under Sara Taylor identified several GOP supporters who still needed appointments across government before Bush left office.”
    […]
    The Bush administration’s satisfaction with Solomon’s story can be seen in an exchange of emails on the day of its publication.
    […]

    And Kyle Sampson — the counselor to then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales who would be forced to resign just nine days later for his role in the scandal — responded, “Great work, Brian. Kusos to you and the DAG.”[…]

  28. prostratedragon says:

    [Reply to rotl at 58] It does seem that this was the issue when it happened. Certainly in the one packet of memos (wish there were more of an index or something!) it seems that WH had no idea what was about to hit them, and Feinstein was only a step or two ahead.

    Even after the mid-January 2007 flood swarm, they can hardly believe that they have to get any closer to where the energy actually was being generated than Joe Conason (see page 28 of WH-11); hardly the worst choice, but iirc even he was pretty much trying to catch up to the TPM crowd and some members of the FDL Bar Association for a while.

    And they call their co-ordinating papers “talking points memos!”

  29. rosalind says:

    ot: Judge says not so fast to the SEC’s pathetic 33 million fine against BofA for their Merrill pre-merger bonuses. Fav quote:

    The lawyer for Bank of America periodically whispered what appeared to be suggestions to Mr. Rosenfeld.

    Rosenfeld is the lawyer for the SEC.

    link

  30. MadDog says:

    From Harriet Mier’s testimony (page 32):

    Q Did you discuss with Karl Rove at all whether all the U.S. Attorneys should be removed?

    A It would surprise me if Karl was involved in discussions about that subject.

    Q So you don’t have any specific recollection of discussing it with him?

    A I don’t have a specific recollection of actually speaking to Karl. It would not surprise me if he was involved.

    Hmmm…Harriet, those 2 answers contradict. First you’d be surprised if Turdblossom was involved, and second, you’d be surprised if he wasn’t involved.

    So I’m guessing that Harriet got caught lying here, and in the blink of an eye decided that the lie was obvious to all, so she’d better change her testimony immediately.

    And what do you know, she did. From the next Q&A:

    Q Do you recall — I’m sorry, say that again?

    A It would not surprise me if he was involved in conversations about that topic. And I have actually seen e-mail that indicates he was. I’m not remembering that, myself; I’m remembering having seen documents.

    Q But you don’t recall discussing it with him, yourself?

    A Again, I don’t have a recollection of a specific conversation.

    Q Is there anyone who you do remember having a specific conversation with about whether to remove all of the U.S. Attorneys?

    A I don’t have a recollection of a specific conversation.

    • Leen says:

      “specific” how about conversations where the “firing” was mentioned, discussed, brought up, whispered about in conversations.

      They did not ask her if she had a “specific” conversation. They asked her if she had “discussed” the firings.

      ___________________________——

      So why did this person questioning allow her to flip the word “discuss” to “specific conversation’

      Why not stay with did you “discuss”

      What a thug..on top of being a liar

  31. Hmmm says:

    So if Rove can no longer claim he wasn’t deeply involved in the firings, does he have a shot at proving it wasn’t improper for him to have done so? Previously I had the impression that his role was firmly and solely categorized as political advisor, which would be FAIL, but it sounds like there is now an attempt to broaden (after the fact) his remit to the point where it would not have been improper. Bullshit obviously, but is it gonna fly at DoJ, in the Grand Jury, or in court?

    • readerOfTeaLeaves says:

      does he have a shot at proving it wasn’t improper for him to have done so?

      Well, this is a guy who claims former Sen Fitzgerald has an ‘active imagination’, so I figure he’ll try anything — no matter how egregious, how stupid it makes him look, nor how criminal it may be.

      Trust Rove to try and ‘broaden his remit’ at the same time he’s claiming he never emailed anything via an RNC server.

  32. Petrocelli says:

    ((( Skdadl )))

    Not to mention that Toronto has no gloating Sports Fans, like Pittsboigh … and prolly better Irish Pubs too !

  33. emptywheel says:

    FWIW, Toronto works out to be a longer or roughly equal drive as P-Burgh on account of that crazy little border thing. Particularly getting back. Seems it’s easier for us furriners to get into Canada than for us ‘Murkins to get back home (though I admittedly usually travel with a furriner coming home).

        • Petrocelli says:

          We just didn’t like her lumping the Canadian Border with the Mexican Border and all it’s problems.

          Heck, if terrists really wanted to cross the 49, they wouldn’t need to use a Bridge …

        • skdadl says:

          I understand that, but she did early on repeat the line about 9/11 hijackers entering the U.S. from Canada, which we all know to be utterly untrue. I believe she later apologized for that.

          Ressam (millennium) is the one case we know of for sure, and he was caught by a border guard doing her ordinary job, none of your fancy Michael Chertoff stuff. There may have been some shadies I’m not aware of, and it is a very long border. But still, I was sorry to see that she wouldn’t dial back on the paranoia.

    • Petrocelli says:

      My Michigander friends left Toronto Sunday afternoon and arrived home in 3.45 hours. Coming here took them 3.25 hours.

      Yes, one of them is an Engineer, how did you guess ? *g*

  34. MadDog says:

    I hope you take the time to enjoy Pittsburgh EW. It’s one of my favorite towns.

    I really visually liked all the beautiful hilly terrain though walking or driving places meant never going anywhere in a straight line.

    Spent many weeks there on business and found Pittsburghers some of the friendliest folks around (and that from someone who lives in Minnesota “Nice”).

  35. TheOrA says:

    h/t Styve

    This stuff pisses me off to no end. Is there anything these bastards didn’t taint with their machinations.

    http://rawstory.com/08/news/20…..ite-house/

    “I didn’t give them what they wanted,” Iglesias explained. “That was probably a political problem that caused them to go to the White House or whomever and complain that I wasn’t a team player.”

    So what about the chilling effect on US Attorney’s performing their job appropriately if they know that they will be fired if they don’t press prosecutions when it would be politically expedient for the President and/or the President’s party?

    Whenever the topic of Rove comes up it reminds me of the The Paradigms of Power as laid out by L.E. Modesitt, Jr. in his book Adiamante.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adiamante

    Society is based on morality.

    Morality rests on consensus and requires the use of power to remove those who will not accept that consensus.

    The continued existence of a shared morality rests upon the forbearance of every single individual within a society from claiming the whole fruit of his or her labour.

    A society’s ability to achieve consensus is inversely proportional to the size and complexity of society, to the degree of technological advancement, and to the speed of internal communications.

    Power cannot be maintained and effectively exercised, without a moral structure accepted and practiced by all, because power attracts the corruptible, and corruption destroys consensus.

    Certain individuals are born incapable of forbearance; so are certain cultures.

    Thus the continuation of society rests on: the willingness of each individual to accept the shared values of the society, the willingness and the ability of those in power to remove those who do not support the morality of the society; and the willingness of all to limit the size and complexity of the society to the scope of the consensus required.

    • MadDog says:

      …Certain individuals are born incapable of forbearance…

      You have to wonder when Repug “lizardbrainitis” will be added to the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders).

      And it’s incurable and terminal.

      • TheOrA says:

        You have to wonder when Repug “lizardbrainitis” …

        You know, I always wondered why my former State Rep’s (R) office smelled like a swamp.

        He had to suddenly announce that he wasn’t running for re-election due to, what was it, oh yeah, something about a 14 year old girl.

    • Hmmm says:

      It would have been shorter if he’d just called it the social contract. And there is a flaw if he assumes just a single society within a given territory/country; see for example tea party society and ordinary civil society coexisting within the US, each with a different standard of where that forbearance line must be drawn. Which club gets to remove the other one?

      • TheOrA says:

        Ah, in the book their were only two societies. But, I don’t know that he would redraw the rules to account for the coexistance of multiple societies.

        I believe it was Stephen Hawking that said, in response to someone asking his opinion about our efforts to contact alien life, something to the effect of “given how well we get along with each other, I’d keep our heads down.”

        • Hmmm says:

          The point is, in the absence of internal agreement inside one of those two ’societies’, what faction has the legitimacy to suppress any others? If the model doesn’t accommodate that problem, then it’s an incomplete model.

        • Hmmm says:

          The Construct

          The society of earth also adheres to a document called ‘the construct’ which provides additional guidelines for their society.
          Mutual individual respect, and self-respect must be maintained, since the greater the mutual respect between individuals and the respect for the role of each individual within the society, the greater the stability of the society.
          Because society is founded on trust, trust cannot be withheld on unfounded suspicion.
          Threats are a form of mistrust, so are unprovoked violence, use of physical force, and manipulation of another. Failure to be trustworthy requires removal from society.
          Attempts to re-define principles into written rules of conduct reflect mistrust and are doomed to failure.
          Direct statements of individual desires are not forms of mistrust, but no individual or group of individuals is bound or required to fulfil another’s desire.
          Society may agree upon mutually restrictive and/or coercive measures, but only so long as such measures have commensurate impact upon those who develop and impose such measures.

          Not much better. Assumes all people have the same understanding of too much, rather than the differences we see in life — for example, in authoritarians, the empathy-deficited, and (to bring it back around) in Rove. Now if those were only a few, then there there would be no issue. But to the extent that there are a lot of them, and to the extent that those antisocial traits tend to collect power to those who exhibit them, you’re back at the two-tribes scenario. There is, in short, no trust in the first place so the rest built atop trust fails.

        • TheOrA says:

          Not much better. Assumes all people have the same understanding of too much, rather than the differences we see in life…

          Oh, I agree that it isn’t very practical (they even had to cheat in the novel to make it work). It is more like a thought experiment in novel form. But, I find it an interesting standard to turn to when measuring human or national behavior.

  36. zhiv says:

    Mom made it to the Burg. We’ve got that going for us.

    So far: Perino and John Solomon. A little DiFi. Remembering back, Iglesias wasn’t so aye-aye-aye, aside from Tom Cruise playing him in the movie. We were all about Carol Lam. That was the one that was so egregious, but I suppose it was also fun to see the gloves coming off in McCain country.

    Interesting as well to see that Rove was working on this back in May–you know, back when the Empire was intact, before Katrina, etc: another bad presidential August. Maybe at some point people will realize that power has a different vacation schedule than the rest of us.

    I always wondered why they went through with all this after losing the Nov 2006 elections, but it was all just part of the train going down the track I guess.

  37. MadDog says:

    OT, but of interest here. From the NYT:

    Interrogation Inc.
    2 U.S. Architects of Harsh Tactics in 9/11’s Wake

    …In a brief e-mail exchange in June, Dr. Mitchell said his nondisclosure agreement with the C.I.A. prevented him from commenting. He suggested that his work had been mischaracterized.

    “Ask around,” Dr. Mitchell wrote, “and I’m sure you will find all manner of ‘experts’ who will be willing to make up what you’d like to hear on the spot and unrestrained by reality…”

    Gee whiz Doc Mitchell, that sounds exactly like what you’d get from folks like you who recommended and practiced fookin’ torture!

    I’d recommend reading this 3 page article by Scott Shane.

    • MadDog says:

      And there’s this too:

      …By the start of 2002, Dr. Mitchell was consulting with the C.I.A.’s Counterterrorist Center, whose director, Cofer Black, and chief operating officer, Jose A. Rodriguez Jr., were impressed by his combination of visceral toughness and psychological jargon. One person who heard some discussions said Dr. Mitchell gave the C.I.A. officials what they wanted to hear. In this person’s words, Dr. Mitchell suggested that interrogations required “a comparable level of fear and brutality to flying planes into buildings…”

      I knew that sooner or later that weasel Cofer Black would get identified as one of the torture architects.

      And when the GWOT money on the outside started looking too good to miss, per Wiki:

      …Since February 2005, Black has been Vice Chairman of Blackwater USA, a US-based private security firm which is the State Department’s biggest security contractor. Black is also the chairman of the privately owned intelligence gathering company Total Intelligence Solutions…

      • bmaz says:

        Lawyers pay the experts better than the CIA does torture victims. Put em up in hotels a lot more comfortable than Gitmo too….

  38. Hmmm says:

    Dr. Mitchell suggested that interrogations required “a comparable level of fear and brutality to flying planes into buildings…”

    Way to conflate attack with information gathering there, Doc… Jesus Christ Almighty, who would buy that kind of crap logic and what the hell does it say about CIA leadership that they’d accept it??!?

  39. fatster says:

    Court upholds CIA contractor’s detainee abuse conviction
    BY AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE 

Published: August 11, 2009 
Updated 1 hour ago

    “A federal appeals court has upheld the conviction of David Passaro, the first US civilian found guilty of abusing a detainee in Afghanistan, according to a copy of the ruling obtained by AFP Tuesday.

    “A three-judge panel from the Fourth US Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia on Monday found that, contrary to Passaro’s argument, federal courts have jurisdiction over assaults committed by US citizens abroad in countries where the United States conducts military missions.”

    More.

    • Hmmm says:

      federal courts have jurisdiction over assaults committed by US citizens abroad in countries where the United States conducts military missions

      Including Cuba?

        • Mary says:

          Hi TheraP!

          We did already kinda have that with Rashul, but this is still going to be interesting. And are black sites going to qualify as well, or conspiracies that take place in part in the US, for delivery of persons to someplace like Egypt or Cuba where we don’t have military operations, but are taking somone against their will.

        • TheraP says:

          Hi back, Mary! (I’ve been out of the loop a bit lately.)

          Naturally, I’m willing to qualify any sites where abuses occurred! (especially if any psychologists were involved – or how about we make that where any medical personnel were “around”?)

          Any small victory is to be appreciated here. But too much is going down the memory hole it would appear.

          It’s seems the right wing at large has decided to practice “ego down” in town halls. What’s next?

  40. TarheelDem says:

    RNC #15
    A Report on Southern Women in Politics
    A Mobile Register article about the AL Gov race, when Siegelman was still being mentioned
    More tracking polls
    Multiple copies of Hotline routed from different EOP interns

    • readerOfTeaLeaves says:

      More tracking polls
      Multiple copies of Hotline routed from different EOP interns

      EOP = Executive Office of the President.
      Gosh, no wonder they were sending messages via the RNC servers.

      /s

  41. readerOfTeaLeaves says:

    Honestly, I keep checking back here today waiting for the ‘blog warriors’ to show up on Rove’s behalf, per:

    Get ahead of your opponent with Professional Blog Warriors.

    Be prepared to “flood the zone” with comments from professionals who are ready to put your talking points on the blogosphere 24/7.

    Whether it’s defense or offense, Advantage Consultants has a dedicated team of experienced blog warriors ready to advance your candidate or campaign.

    Why wait for the attack? Launch your attack with a battery of blog and forum comments aimed at all media and blog sites in your district.

    Contact us today and let us show you the Advantage in professional blog warfare.

    …Incidentally, who are these people? Who is Advantage Consultants? Their president is Doug Guetzloe, a right-wing radio host and anti-tax activist in Florida.

    Here we have the emails, the evidence that Rove played the system with such ruthless, reckless, ideological blindness that he merits the rest of his life in prison, and I expect some GOP-financed, Rovian Professional Blog Warriors to show up and try to sneak into the liquor cabinet.

    Yet, no Blog Warriors…? Only us eWheelies?

    Ah… maybe its a Clever New Rovian Strategery: kind of like the one Vizzini used to outwit The Man In Black (”…so it must be the wine in front of you…”). Where are the Rovian bearers of iocane, now that the evidence is publicly released…?

    In hiding…?
    Or too busy harranging over health care…?

  42. readerOfTeaLeaves says:

    OT, this actually belongs back on the Madoff thread, but I fear no one will go back and see it. From the NYT, Tues, 11 August: Madoff just made sh*t up:

    Mr. DiPascali described how he, Mr. Madoff and unidentified “other people” created fake account statements, shuffled money between bank accounts and perpetuated a years-long fairy tale that they were making money for clients of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities.

    No purchases or sales of securities were actually taking place in their accounts,” Mr. DiPascali said. “It was all fake. It was all fictitious. It was wrong, and I knew it was wrong at the time.”

    And, from his account, keeping the scheme afloat and investors and regulators duped was a full-time job. To give the appearance that Mr. Madoff’s firm had mastered the markets, Mr. Madoff and his employees would track stock prices and then simply pretend to buy stocks whose trajectories matched the firm’s investment goals, Mr. DiPascali said.

    They created and mailed out reams of account statements and trading slips for trades that had never taken place. Prosecutors said that the ruse extended as far as designing a fake computer stock-trading platform and using a random-number generator to assign times and amounts to trade records, so that no one would detect any pattern.

    Sorry for the ’screamy bold’ and the OT, but Madoff is to Money as K-k-k-karl Rove is to Political Genius.

    So wonder whether any of that Abramoff money Rove was siphoning out of Abramoff-enabled Indian casinos was ending up in Bernie Madoff’s ‘pretend trading’ charlatanry in order to better hide, convert to Euros, or … whatever the hell they were doing with it.

    Sorry for the OT, but perhaps inventing stocks and setting up a bogus computer system surely will merit an ‘honorable mention’ on a thread about rampant corruption.

    Oh, and here’s a BCCI potential tie-in, timewise:

    But “at least as early as the 1980s,” the S.E.C. asserted, Mr. DiPascali was helping Mr. Madoff create fictitious trades to generate phantom returns for particular accounts — specifically, accounts set up by some early feeder funds, which steered money from other investors into Mr. Madoff’s hands.

    And did I forget to mention that former AG Mukasey’s son is Mr. Pascali’s atty?

    You could not make this sh*t up.

    • Hmmm says:

      Sounds like he thought he was doing his clients a favor by skimming off a fraction of the dirty money he was laundering, and passing it along as though it were trading gains. I mean, the outgoing money had to come from somewhere.

  43. Neil says:

    red ROVEr red ROVEr…

    I welcome the release of my House Judiciary Committee interviews and accompanying documents. They show politics played no role in the Bush Administration’s removal of U.S. Attorneys, that I never sought to influence the conduct of any prosecution, and that I played no role in deciding which US attorneys were retained and which replaced.

    The transcript’s release follows two years of false accusations and partisan innuendoes made by Governor Siegelman and Judiciary Committee Democrats. These have proved utterly groundless.

    Rather than relying on partisans selectively quoting testimony or excerpting email messages, I urge anyone interested to review the documents in their entirety. They speak for themselves.

    * July 7, 2009 Interview (PDF Download)
    * July 30, 2009 Interview (PDF Download)
    * Exhibits Part 1 (PDF Download)
    * Exhibits Part 2 (PDF Download)

    http://www.rove.com/notes/173

    • readerOfTeaLeaves says:

      D’ya mean ‘Rove = Fair Game’?
      Or, ‘Rove = so depraved he called Plame Fair Game?’

      Sorry to be so daft.

      • Neil says:

        Both, right? Karma’s a bitch. Actually, I was just remembering that Rove said that about a covert CIA agent and by that he meant fair game for the politics of personal destruction. At the time, she was not a public figure and had said exactly nothing, zip, nada to justify the poison he was about to project. Plus I forgot they hired Penn and Watts for the movie. No Fitz in the cast. It’s based on her memoir.

  44. readerOfTeaLeaves says:

    Gotcha ;-))

    Karma’s quite the weaver of conundrums, paradoxes, and illusions.

    Has k-k-k-Karl been caught in a net of his own making? Surprise, surprise ;-))

    Lady Karma doesn’t appear to be in a hurry, does she?

  45. Neil says:

    Mr Rove, state you full name and address for the record

    Karl C. Rove, 4925 Weaver Terrace NW, Washington DC 20016

    No doubt a residence, at that residence is Rove & Company. No big deal right? I guess that depends on how much of the property gets written off for business purposes. He’s asking 1,500 and paid 800.

  46. Neil says:

    Who asked?

    Q Now Mr. Rove, you don’t have a background as a prosecutor, right?
    A No. Not a lawyer.
    Q So your interaction with the Department of Justice was both on a policy basis and a political basis?
    A Yeah. Right. Never attempted directly or indirectly to influence any particular case that was before the Justice Department.

  47. Neil says:

    Q One of the reasons why OPA, and through OPA you might be involved in the decision to hire a particular U.S. Attorney, was the impact that would have on local elected officials or local party leaders. Am I right?

    A No. It would be whether or not that person was qualified and able to do the job, and what kind of response would people have to that person. Would they see him as a qualified person, a quality appointment by the President of the United States?

    Q And among —

    A The idea of a specific impact on elected officials implies that you are trying to have somebody who has a particular attitude towards a particular individual. And that is not what you ought to be appointing a U.S. Attorney. At least that was our view.

    … or trying not to have someone who an elected official has a particular attitude toward.

    When Rove becomes concerned about where a particular line of questioning is going, he cuts it off by testifying that their principled belief would not have directed them to do so … without saying that they did not do so.

  48. Neil says:

    Q As best you can recall, how and when did the idea first come up of replacing some or all of the U.S. Attorneys who had been appointed by President Bush?

    A As I said earlier, it came up late in 2004. I have no recollection who it came up from. My general belief is it came from the Counsel’s Office. It may have come elsewhere. And I remember it being briefly discussed, and I believe I had a conversation with Harriet Miers in which I expressed my concern about such an approach. And I thought the issue was dead. And then at a later point, I have a recollection of hearing that it was being reconsidered.

    classic dissembling. Schiff asks him how and when. Rove answers, ‘I don’t know who’ then lays it at the feet of Miers and says he was against it.

  49. TarheelDem says:

    Here’s some more summaries of the RNC PDF files from HJC:

    RNC #4
    Tracking polls and scoreboards

    RNC#5
    Tracking polls and scoreboards

    RNC#6
    Tracking polls and scoreboards

    RNC#7
    Tracking polls and scoreboards

    RNC#8
    Tracking polls and scorboards – all in the PDFs so far seem to be from Michael Ellis (no email) to Sara Taylor, gwb43.com

    Alabama Political BP (bullet points?) File name is kinda interesting:
    AL.FortBenning.011107.PoliticalBP.doc
    1/11/2007 is the date on bullet points; Jan 9 is the date of the email
    Obviously some edits being done by Caleb Graves, White House
    Another copy: comments to Caleb Graves from Michael Drummond
    These are for 2008 cycle

    RNC#9
    Friday Polling Report – from Sara Taylor, gwb43.com to RNC list on republican_national_committee.com
    Report compiled by Ashlee Rich – Strategy

    Michael Ellis, gwb43.com to Taylor Hughes, republican_national_committee.com
    Political New and Notes (weekly)

    Ellis, gwb43.com to Sara Taylor, republican_national_commitee.com
    POTUS in CLEVELAND
    April 24, 2006
    Brooke Brodney,aol.com is asking Johnathan Felts about arrangements for the CLEVELAND event.
    Felts routes to Sara Taylor with comment: “Do you know anything about this? The mere thought of working with this woman again pains me. I’m goin to name my freakin’ ulcer after her.”
    Taylor replies: “Yes — by June 30 just heard today can u get an SP in
    Felts: “OK – should just note that it is either for June 26 or June 30?
    Taylor: “Just submit with these as preferred events.” asks for email of Carri Savage, COS for IN-09 Congressman Mike Sodrel
    Felts: delivers details “I think I figured out the problem — the number MEllis is using does not include the transfer from the JFC. So that would also mean that all of our candidates who had a JFC last quarter would not have those totals listed.”
    Taylor: “What do you mean? If someone wrote a check to a candidate — even a JFA, it would have to be listed on the disclosure”
    Michael Ellis: “Apparently (as I’m finding out now) those funds were counted as “transfers to other authorized committees” and not as “contributions I can go back and change te number on our sheets — it would affect the Q1 column not the cash on hand”
    Taylor: “Please do”
    Ellis: “Here is the new version…” with Candidate Cash on Hand report

    Target Media Markets – by Tiers

    Targeting information for races

    Direct copy of National Journal’s “The Hotline” from BJ Goergen, georgewbush.com to James MN Harris, mattblunt.com

    RNC#10
    Cash on Hand Sheets
    Political News and Notes
    Weekly polling charts

    4/19/2006 AL Political BP
    Melissa Danforth to Jason Huntsberry cc: Scott Jennings
    “All yours- obviously the sooner we can wrap this up the better, but understand we have a lot going on Good work on the background information, and just some clarification needed on the Political stuff Scott — assuming you gave us the heads up about the National Committeewoman being a possible PPO nomination?”

    RNC#11
    Weekly polling charts

    GA and AL Political BP
    Caleb Graves, who.eop.gov to Korinne Kubena, gwb43.com cc: Emily Willeford, who.eop.gov
    “Korinne — Raul Yanes the Staff Secretary has asked for political BPs for the President’s travel tomorrow to Alabama and Georgia. Attached are the latest Political BPs from the two states. The good news is they are both from January of this year [2007] and hopefully we can turn these around a little bit easier. Let me know what I can do to help track down information you need to include. Thank you.”

    AL Political BP drafts

    RNC#12
    AL Political BP
    Karl Rove, georgewbush.com, forwards Hastings Wyman’s Southern Political Report to [email protected] and Susan Ralston, georgewbush.com; later to Taylor Hughes, who.eop.gov

    Susan Ralston to Mina Nguyen-Government Affairs
    “See this item from the [White House] Bulletin below. Does it make sense to forward to Sam Mok to get to Asian Week and others?

    Despite Rumors, Key Rove Aide Susan Ralston Not Leaving White House…” with description of which news media had reported that she had quit

    Same from Susan Ralston to other people

    RNC Research flyer – “Democrat Ethics Breakdown” to Ralston

    Aaron Burr – Research and Communications – WSJ clippings post-2006 election

    Karl Rove forwarding to Taylor Hughes the talking points for an ATRA speech with question from Myriah Jordan, who.eop.gov

    Jason Huntsberry to Karl Rove, AL Primary Update, June 6, 2006

    [email protected] to Karl Rove
    sounding promising for Bilbray–that would be huge psychological blow to Ds
    Riley, Baxley win in Alabama as 8 state hold primaries
    BC-Primaries Rdp. 9th Ld.630
    Eds: UPDATES with Baxley win in Alabama, early numbers from California
    With BC-Primary-Glance, BC-Primary Briefs
    copies a Robert Tanner AP piece

    Sara Taylor to Karl Rove, Primary Tracking Master

    Mike Allen, Time, forwards a Washington Post piece to Rove about California Congressional Win

    Three files to go. Impression is that Alabama was an important Governor’s race for Rove because Riley in 2002-2006 was first Republican to serve as governor of Alabama since Reconstruction; think about that for a minute; and Rove wanted to get the Republicans entrenched in the state house.

    • Gitcheegumee says:

      McCain Withheld Controversial Abramoff EmailFeb 25, 2008 … See the Abramoff email below. On the stump, Sen. ….. Sam Stein is the White House correspondent for the Huffington Post. …
      http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/…..tml–

      Note the date on the Abramoff email(which is provided at the end of the article )December,2002.All about the Alabama elections and importance of getting Riley and keeping him as governor of Alabama-also keeping Barbour as gov of Mississippi.

  50. Gitcheegumee says:

    Interesting aside about Susan Ralston, Rove’s assisstant.

    She worked for Abramoff before joing the White House team as special assisstant to Rove.

    Here’s a few links:

    Susan B. Ralston – SourceWatch
    Susan Bonzon Ralston, Special Assistant to the President & Assistant to the Senior Advisor Karl Rove, resigned October 6, 2006, “after disclosures that she …
    http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?…..B._Ralston – Cached – Similar

    [PDF] Deposition of Susan Ralston: The Use of RNC E-mail Accounts by …File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat
    Deposition of Susan B. Ralston. May 10, 2007. Please note the technical and substantive changes to this transcript. Available at http://oversight.house.gov
    oversight.house.gov/documents/20070618105351.pdf – Similar

    Connecting the Dots: Abramoff and Rove : Rolling StoneJan 9, 2006 … He chose Susan Ralston, who came highly recommended from a friend: Jack Abramoff. Ralston performed similar duties for the Don of K Street …
    http://www.rollingstone.com/…/c…..f_and_rove – Cached – Similar

  51. Gitcheegumee says:

    In reference to “deals” brokered by Kit Bond:

    Trip To “Gentleman’s Club” Leads To Guilty Plea For Married Abramoff Crony
    By Zachary Roth – November 20, 2008, 5:03PM

    The wide-ranging probe into the activities of disgraced GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff has netted another conviction.

    Trevor Blackann, a former aide to two Missouri Republicans, Rep. Roy Blunt and Sen. Kit Bond, pleaded guilty today to making false statements on his tax returns, concealing thousands of dollars in illegal gifts he received from Team Abramoff, reports The Hill.

    In return, court filings allege, Blackann got Bond to write a letter of support for someone who wanted a political appointment to the Bureau of Indian Affairs(Excerpt TPM)___________________________

    Blackann’s wife worked for Tom Delay,btw.

    • readerOfTeaLeaves says:

      Which makes me suspect that Leen’s comment @134, where Rove blows off Sen Peter Fitzgerald’s ‘overactive imagination’ and says that he wouldn’t bank with the guy is actually a load of bullshit because Rove needed banks that were sleazy enough to do his money laundering.

      I doubt he’s connected up with one of Madoff’s feeder funds, but he’s certainly been using tax workarounds, and some kind of bogus financial structures. How else could he be funding those RNC servers, the astroturfy groups, the bogus polls (designed to make it look as if elections were super-super close, so that we would accept strange outcomes), and political black ops?

      • Gitcheegumee says:

        Yes, indeed,imho.

        But remember, Abramoff(Roves BFF) was sending TONS of Indian Casino money to Isreal..

        AND, Merkin ,one of Madoff’s feeder fund mavens. owned a stake in Bank Lemui,of Israel.

        I posted a link to a Daily Kos article about Madoff’s Ponzi scheme,on another thread.I’ll repost. Its all about Merkin,Blankfein,Cerberus and the Gabriel Group.

        Just in passing, it may be of note to reiterate that the Indian Nations are sovereign to themselves. I don’t know if they have their OWN banking sysytems, but they could,not saying they DO, provide a passthrough to launder a lot of money without any overesight.

        Note upthread a “deal” with Kit Bond signing a letter regarding someone wanting to be appoinyted to the BIA.

        And oddly enough, the SAME Louisiana tribe that got ripped off by Abramof,just signed a declaration of -or somethinng to that effect-with the nation of Isreal.

    • bmaz says:

      From Wiki:

      Susan Bonzon Ralston (born October 15, 1967), is the President of SBR Enterprises, LLC, a government affairs, public relations and business consulting firm in the United States. SBR helps companies with strategic partnership development, public affairs and public relations activities with a strong background in project management, outreach, coalition building and event management.

  52. Gitcheegumee says:

    Conyer’s remarks about the Kit Bond “deal”:
    US attorney
    Newly released email shows Rove signed off on deal to remove US attorney
    By William H. Freivogel, Special to the Beacon
    Posted 10:45 a.m. Wed., Aug. 12 –

    A 2005 White House email shows that Karl Rove signed off on a deal under which Sen. Christopher S. “Kit” Bond, R-Mo., won the removal of former U.S. Attorney Todd Graves in return for withdrawing his objections to an Arkansas judicial nominee for the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

    An internal Justice Department investigation had previously tied Bond’s office to Graves’ dismissal. Bond denied personal involvement in removing Graves, a fellow Republican and brother of Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo. A Bond spokesperson reiterated on Tuesday that Bond was not personally involved.

    In releasing the email and thousands of pages of documents, Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., chair of the House Judiciary Committee, said the documents showed Rove’s deep involvement in the dismissal of the U.S. attorneys. “After all the delay and despite all the obfuscation, lies, and spin,” Conyers said, “this basic truth can no longer be denied: Karl Rove and his cohorts at the Bush White House were the driving force behind several of these firings, which were done for improper reasons. Under the Bush regime, honest and well-performing U.S. attorneys were fired for petty patronage, political horsetrading.”

    Conyers described the Bond deal this way: “Kansas City U.S. Attorney Todd Graves was removed as part of a White House-brokered deal with U.S. Sen. Kit Bond. In exchange for the administration firing Graves, Sen. Bond agreed to lift his hold on an Arkansas judge nominated to the Eighth Circuit federal appeals court. A White House e-mail stated that ‘Karl is fine’ with the proposal.”

    In a statement, Bond’s office said: “Sen. Bond did not know or approve his former staffer’s actions so obviously he didn’t make a deal to have someone dismissed that he didn’t want fired in the first place.”(Excerpt,St. Louis Beacon)

  53. Leen says:

    http://www.atlargely.com/atlargely/
    Rich Lowry has a whole lot of s’plaining to do…

    Not that I think of the National Review as any sort of journalism outlet. The publication is nothing more than an ideological shill platform. But one hopes that even those individuals drowning in the passion of their confused convictions are expressing themselves for the publication and not for, say, an owner at the White House.

    Enter Rich Lowry, who was willing to crawl up Karl Rove’s backside by offering his help in “catapulting the propaganda” and Zach Roth tells us all about it:

    ———————————————–

    Reading parts of those transcripts. How many times are they allowed to say “I don’t recall” Seems like they should get a little shock when they say this and then the current could get increasingly stronger each time they say it.

    Call in the torture creators,enablers and executors.
    what did you say sir “the current is not allowed to be set that high” Oh I did not read the memos…I did not know

  54. TarheelDem says:

    Finished skim of RNC documents from HJC:

    RNC#13
    Sara Taylor, gwb43.com to Karl Rove, georgewbush.com and Taylor Hughes, who.eop.gov
    Alabama NEWS ALERT
    fw from Jason Huntsberry
    Just spoke with Toby and word is that Former Governor Siegelman (10 counts) and Richard Scrushy (every account) were just convicted. Details to follow…

    RNC Research, Democrat Ethics Breakdown flyer

    Peter Feaver to Karl Rove, Peter Wehner, Sara Taylor, Aug 21 2006, Interesting post – copy of August 14, 2006 post Incumbent Rule Redux by Mark Blumenthal with comments

    AL Gov Poll

    Southern Political Report forwarding

    GA and AL PBs

    “Wake-up call” daily news summary

    Kelley McCullough to Scott Jennings, fw of Toby Roth
    RE: Hey Feb 10, 2005
    “Going well. The Gov’s budget has been a big hit with the hard-line GOP crowd. Hubbert hates it. Let the games begin.

    Looks like Twinkle has smooth sailing at Saturday’s party mtg. She has done a good job working the cmte and discouraging possible opposition. She’s got a little issue that Marty left her that she needs to clean up and may try to enlist your help. For the GOP fundraising event later this year, Marty and Sheryl Jennings had lined up Zell Miller. Twinkle, Edgar and Bettye Fine discussed this and agreed this was a bad fit for Alabama since he was Siegelman’s mentor and swore him in back in Jan 99. Also the party is going after conservative Dems to either switch parties or take them out, so Zell seemed to be sending a mixed signal. Any thought on a big name she could bring in for the dinner.

    No official decision yet on re-elect — he say he’ll announce something in May after the session is over. I think he’s a go, though he won’t say. We did a statewide tabloid that was inserted in every newspaper in the state detailing the accomplishments of the first two years. Since the campaign paid for it the tag line was “Paid for by Riley for Governor” That was obviously viewed as the strongest indication yet. Call me when you get a chance–I’d like to know your thoughts on some prospects for campaign/strategy talent. Good to hear from you.”
    Roth was Gov. Riley’s COS

    RNC#14
    Targets – 2006
    LEAN R/ POTENTIAL LOSS – AL – Riley (49%)

    Talking points for judicial appointments
    Talking points about “Myths of Judicial Filibuster”

    2006 Race tracking slides with White House logo

    AL Gov Poll

    Sara Taylor fw of Toby Roth “Hey” email to Rove
    March 12 2005, Jason Huntsberry reporting shift of polling to favoring Riley over Siegelman but trailing Baxley, asks to change target category to Lead R; Sara Taylor says “Yes”

    Guess that’s it; nothing much there.

  55. Gitcheegumee says:

    Perhaps Rove’s issue not really with Fitzgerald’s bank,but this:

    Fitzgerald serves on the Board of Trustees of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, which is a museum dedicated to the U.S. Constitution.

    Wiki_______________________________________________________

    Incidentally, he is not related to Patrick Fitzgerald.

  56. Leen says:

    Did Meiers and Rove testify under oath and does it matter?

    Q “he is in shorthand a wuss, Mr. Adair says. What do you think he meant by that”

    A “I believe he says a cowardly wuss to be appropriate. I think he thinks he would not be a strong U.S. attorney”

    AMAZING HOW ROVE CAN SELECTIVELY REMEMBER WHEN HE SO CHOOSES…and seems to get away with it.

    Really something that they consider Ward Churchill and Micheal Moore to be “bullies”. Kind of pathetic

  57. Gitcheegumee says:

    @152

    On June 22, 2006 the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs released its final report on the scandal.

    [16] The report states that under the guidance of the Mississippi Choctaw tribe’s planner, Nell Rogers, the tribe agreed to launder money because “Ralph Reed did not want to be paid directly by a tribe with gaming interests.” It also states that Reed used non-profits, including Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform, as pass-throughs to disguise the origin of the funds, and that “the structure was recommended by Jack Abramoff to accommodate Mr. Reed’s political concerns.”

    ABC News reported on November 15, 2006 that Jack Abramoff told prosecutors that Senator Harry Reid (D) requested contributions of $30,000 from Abramoff’s clients and that Reid agreed to assist him in matters concerning Indian casinos.[17]

    Wikipedia excerpt,
    “Abramoff Indian Casino Scandals”

  58. Neil says:

    Q Do you recall discussing with Mr. Jennings actual or expected vacant U.S. Attorney slots around this time? That would be around the end of 2006.

    A Whenever the plan is finalized and there is a list, yes, I’m confident we had discussions. I don’t recall specifically, but I’m confident we did.

    Q Take a look at Document 11. The bottom is an e-mail from you to Scott Jennings. Subject: “Give me a report on what U.S. Attorney slots are vacant or expected to be open soon.” What prompted you to send him that question, or that inquiry?

    A Well, it’s — I can’t recall.

    Q Was there somebody in particular you were trying to find a spot for at that time?

    A No.

    Rove cannot allow himself to be seen as having participated in creating the list of USA to be terminated. He was involved only as conduit… who passed along feedback. If he is (were to be more heavily involved), his reasons for doing so might expose him to criminal liabilty, or perjury and obstruction in the process of concealing it.

  59. Neil says:

    Rove makes opportunities to reaffirm cornerstones of his defense, even when his statements are not responsive to Schiff’s questions …so they seem out of place.

    Also Rove interrupts when the questioning is putting him in some sort of exposure. He is eager to establish a safe assertion that shields him from further questioning in a direction he cannot afford, such as when he received a list from DOJ and when he paid attention to it and why it might not have been produced in discovery: If it ever existed, it would be here.

    Q Mr. Jennings states that the request to report to you would be lengthy. Was that report provided to you in writing or orally?

    A I suspect it was orally.

    Q Even though it was a lengthy report?

    A Probably. If it was in writing, it would be in here.

    Q You don’t recall getting a written —

    A I don’t.

    Q — list of either vacant slots or those that might be vacant?

    The personal conflict of interrupting gives Rove the confidence to sell the lie. Now if only special councel can prove it.

  60. Neil says:

    Q Is it possible, Mr. Rove, that you would’ve approved the plan for replacing certain U.S. Attorneys without knowing who they were?

    A Absolutely. …

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