In January 2005, Kyle Sampson, soon to become the attorney general’s chief of staff, was following up on an idea he’d already discussed with Alberto Gonzales, and which Karl Rove had chatted with the White House counsel’s office about: purging prosecutors. In the email, which has the subject line “Re: Question from Karl Rove,” Sampson, […]
When ABC News reported late yesterday that it was Karl Rove’s idea to fire U.S. Attorneys, it was interesting for a couple of reasons. First, it demonstrated a level of Rove involvement that the White House had previously denied. And second, the White House had argued that the idea originated from Harriet Miers, not Rove. […]
The LA Times’ [tag]Ron Brownstein[/tag] suggests today that [tag]Fox News[/tag] may be the most successful company in the history of capitalism to make triumph “with just a wink and a nod.” Brownstein then poses what has become Question #1 in the Democrats’ media conundrum: ignore the network or reach out to its viewers? Fox cloaks […]
The Plame scandal has always been a tough one for the right to defend. The White House exposed the identity of an undercover [tag]CIA[/tag] agent, on purpose, during a time of war. Any way you slice it, that’s a pretty wretched thing to do, especially for a group of people who claim the high ground […]
Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers: * New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D), a presidential hopeful, is poised to sign a bill that will allow the use of medical marijuana. He’s reportedly not concerned about the impact on his […]
Earlier this week, after the big purge-related document dump, there was one facet to the story that I largely overlooked. Given all the scandalous details, it seemed like a bit of a tangent. Here’s the original mention from the WaPo story: E-mails released yesterday show that White House deputy political director J. Scott Jennings communicated […]
Right around the time Senate Republicans were voicing their support for an open-ended commitment to the war in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus was preparing to ask for an even bigger escalation than had been previously advertised. The top US commander in Iraq has requested another Army brigade, in addition to five already on the way, […]
The new email revelations in the prosecutor purge scandal aren’t the only key updates from the last half-day. How about a round-up? * The White House is hedging on Gonzales’ future. “I’ve thought he could survive up until now,” said a senior Bush political strategist. “But if he’s shown to be a liar by these […]
In a week in which each passing day has revealed more damaging details, this ABC News report from late yesterday afternoon ratchets the prosecutor purge scandal up a notch — to a level that may seal Alberto Gonzales’ fate, and implicate Karl Rove in a more serious way. New unreleased e-mails from top administration officials […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * Debate over the war in Iraq dominated both sides of the Capitol this afternoon. In the House, the House Appropriations Committee passed a Democratic measure mandating a troop withdrawal deadline of Sept. 1, 2008. In the Senate, Republicans defeated a proposal to begin a phased withdrawal within 120 days […]