Before things heat up at today’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, let’s consider some of the other purge-related revelations from the last half-day.
* In the latest document dump (how many are we up to now? four?), there’s a key White House email. Kyle Sampson prepared a letter to Congress in February, telling lawmakers that Karl Rove was not involved in any of the U.S. Attorney decisions, despite knowing that he was. As it turns out, Christopher Oprison, associate counsel to the President, signed off on Sampson’s letter, despite his apparent knowledge that the Rove claim was false.
As Sen. Chuck Schumer responded, “The plot continues to thicken. It seems the Justice Department rarely acted without the knowledge and approval of the White House. In effect, the White House was involved in denying its own involvement. This makes the need for Karl Rove, Harriet Miers, and others in the White House to testify under oath, with transcripts even greater.”
* McClatchy reported that the Justice Department acknowledged yesterday that the February letter disavowing Rove’s role wasn’t true, and DoJ officials “sincerely regret any inaccuracy.”
* Gonzales has been meeting with U.S. Attorneys across the country, many of whom “complained that the dismissals had undermined morale.” Apparently, more than a few prosecutors believe Gonzales’ handling of this scandal has made all U.S. Attorneys look bad — and they’re not happy about it.
* The National Review, one of the nation’s leading conservative publications, called for Gonzales’ ouster yesterday. “What little credibility Gonzales had is gone,” the NR editors argued. “All that now keeps him in office, save the friendship of the president, is the conviction of many Republicans that removing him would embolden the Democrats. It is an overblown fear. The Democrats will pursue scandals, real or invented, whether or not Gonzales stays. But they have an especially inviting target in Gonzales. He cannot defend the administration and its policies even when they deserve defense. Alberto Gonzales should resign. The Justice Department needs a fresh start.”
* Who’s running the smear ads against David Iglesias in New Mexico? A group called New Mexicans for Honest Courts, which is apparently financed by Linda Chavez Krumland, a generous GOP donor. Josh Marshall has a bit about her background.
* I suppose it was inevitable: the GOP’s right-wing backers are accusing Democrats of racism: On the March 27 edition of his nationally syndicated radio program, Rush Limbaugh claimed that Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, “the first Hispanic-American attorney general — a minority” is “under fire by white liberal racists in the Senate.” They…have…no…shame.
* Joseph D. Rich, chief of the voting section in the Justice Department’s civil rights division from 1999 to 2005, explained very well today that the Bush gang began skewing federal law enforcement for political purposes long before the prosecutor purge.
* Michael Waldman and Justin Levitt are the latest to explain why the administration voter-fraud arguments are themselves a fraud.
* And in yet another embarrassing editorial, the Wall Street Journal continues to argue that the real problem here is that Clinton fired H.W. Bush’s U.S. Attorneys. When it comes to the WSJ editorial page, parody is impossible.
Stay tuned.