Former Republican Rep. Bob Barr (Ga.) was, I once thought, a rather despicable right-wing hatchet-man. Throughout the Clinton impeachment ordeal, Barr was one of the leading moralist crusaders, and in office, his voting record was indistinguishable from the likes of Tom DeLay. But then a funny thing happened — Barr left office and became, what’s […]
Of all the dubious firings of purged prosecutors, it seems former U.S. Attorney Paul Charlton is probably getting the least amount of attention. That’s a shame; his story is about as bizarre as his colleagues’. Paul Kiel points to this Arizona Republic piece with details that should raise a few eyebrows. Two weeks after Arizona […]
Admit it, some of you thought congressional Democrats would hear Bush’s obstinate vows to fight yesterday and cave to White House demands on the prosecutor purge scandal. Dems have talked tough before, only to back down against aggressive White House posturing. Might it happen again? Not this time. Today, the House Judiciary Commercial and Administrative […]
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: * Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco (D) announced yesterday that she will not seek a second term this fall. The decision upends Louisiana’s political landscape and renews speculation that former Sen. John Breaux (D) […]
Seeds of doubt abound. Now that the nation has learned that several U.S. Attorneys were pressured to bring politically-charged cases for Republicans’ benefit, and many of those who refused lost their jobs, it’s inevitable that previous [tag]Justice Department[/tag] decisions will start to garner fresh scrutiny. Paul Krugman noted a couple of weeks ago, for example, […]
A president’s [tag]executive privilege[/tag] power is complicated and nuanced, and I’m not going to pretend I’m an expert. But I think the political world is about to hear quite a bit more about the principle, what it means, and whether it should apply to the [tag]prosecutor[/tag] [tag]purge[/tag] scandal. Executive privilege protects confidential deliberations within the […]
I hope readers don’t mind that I do frequent round-ups of purge-related news. I like to offer comprehensive coverage of updates as they’re available, but there’s too much information for individual posts on each. There are plenty of gems available this morning. * The Politico’s Mike Allen reports that the DoJ’s document dump on Monday […]
It seems like the most straightforward and elementary angle to the entire purge scandal: why were the prosecutors fired? The administration’s answer to this question has evolved over time, but as the LA Times notes today, the Justice Department’s memos show “performance issues were being detailed after the fact in order to justify the terminations.” […]
There’s still some time for the players to strike a deal, but it’s far more likely that Senate Dems and the Bush White House are headed for a fairly serious constitutional clash. President Bush and Congress clashed Tuesday over an inquiry into the firing of federal prosecutors and appeared headed toward a constitutional showdown over […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * The Senate voted 94 to 2 today to undo the Patriot Act provision that allows the Bush administration to unilaterally fill U.S. attorney vacancies. As the AP explained, “The bill, which has yet to be considered in the House, would set a 120-day deadline for the administration to appoint […]