Bush administration U.S. attorney firings controversy/External links: May 2007 - Part 3

This article is part of the SourceWatch / Congresspedia coverage of the Bush administration U.S. attorney firings controversy

Main article:

Bush administration U.S. attorney firings controversy

Related articles:

Bush administration misuse of government agencies controversy Office of Special Counsel Bush administration phony 'voter fraud' vote caging

Sub-articles:

Firings and activities of fired U.S. attorneys E-mail controversy E-mail controversy/External Links gwb43.com External articles (Go to for breakdown of dates.) Office of Counsel (White House Counsel) Alberto Gonzales Monica Goodling Tim Griffin

The following are articles and commentary for May 16-31, 2007 related to the Bush administration U.S. attorney firings controversy.

Coverage of overlapping issues can be found in external links for April 2007.

More links are available via the task bar.

Also see related Bush administration warrantless wiretapping and Bush administration phony 'voter fraud'.

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Articles & Commentary

May 16

• David Johnston, "Bush Intervened in Dispute Over N.S.A. Eavesdropping," New York Times, May 16, 2007.
• Marisa Taylor and Margaret Talev, "2 additional prosecutors were considered for ouster," McClatchy Newspapers, May 16, 2007.
• Klaus Marre, "Leahy threatens White House with subpoenas," The Hill, May 16, 2007.
• "Senators Durbin, Schumer, Feingold and Kennedy Write to Attorney General Gonzalez," Democratic Caucus's Senate Journal, May 16, 2007.
• Mike Soraghan, "Gonzales: Paul McNulty was major figure in firings," The Hill, May 16, 2007.
• Lara Jakes Jordan, "Gonzales says he followed deputy's advice on firings," Associated Press (Boston Globe), May 16, 2007.
• "Analysis: Gonzales, Wolfowitz Could Be Poster Boys For What's Wrong With Politics Today," Associated Press (CBS News), May 16, 2007.
• Paul Kiel, TPMmuckraker, May 16, 2007:

• "Today's Must Read"
• "Hagel: Gonzales 'Should Resign Now'"
• "Senate Committee to Gonzales: AHEM"
• "It's The Program, Stupid"
• "Leahy to White House: A-HEM"
• "Sampson: Rove Aide Was 'Upset'"
• "DoJ Responds to Senate Subpoena"
• "House Committee Schedules Goodling Hearing"
• "Whitehouse: We'll Keep The Pressure on"

May 17

• Dan Eggen and Amy Goldstein, "Justice Weighed Firing 1 in 4. 26 Prosecutors Were Listed As Candidates," Washington Post, May 17, 2007.
• Margaret Talev and Marisa Taylor, "Senate prepares for a no-confidence vote on Gonzales," McClatchy Newspapers, May 17, 2007: "new details surfaced suggesting that at least 30 federal prosecutors were targeted for firing, nearly one-third of the nation's 93 U.S. attorneys."

• See "An Evolving List.": "Unreleased government records show that the Justice Department listed 26 U.S. attorneys as candidates for firing, including nine who were fired in 2006. The roster of prosecutors is much longer than previously acknowledged."
• See "USA Firing List Timeline," Talking Points Memo, May 17, 2007.

• Editorial: "Unfit for chief law enforcer," Boston Globe, May 17, 2007.
• "GOP's Hagel joins calls for Gonzales' resignation," CNN, May 17, 2007.
• Laurie Kellman, "Senators Renew Call for Gonzales' Ouster," Associated Press (Washington Post), May 17, 2007.
• "Another Republican Senator against Gonzales," Think Progress, May 17, 2007.
• Glenn Greenwald, Opinion: "What will be done about James Comey's revelations? (update below - updated again)," Salon, May 17, 2007.
• Amanda Terkel, "Gonzales Allows Karl Rove-Protege To Remain As U.S. Attorney, Even Though His Term Has Expired," Think Progress, May 17, 2007.
• Paul Kiel, TPMmuckraker, May 17, 2007:

• "Elston: Just Passing A Couple Names Along"
• "Dem Senators to Seek Gonzales No-Confidence Vote"

• Will Thomas, "GOP Gonzales Resignation Roll Call Returns," TPMmuckraker, May 17, 2007.

May 18

• David Swanson, "What Do These Crimes Have in Common?" OpEdNews, May 18, 2007.
• Glenn Greenwald, Opinion: "More fallout from the Comey revelations (updated below)," Salon, May 18, 2007.
• "I Don't Have Confidence in Gonzales," Think Progress, May 18, 2007.
• Will Thomas, "The Daily Muck," TPMmuckraker, May 18, 2007.
• Paul Kiel, TPMmuckraker, May 18, 2007:

• "Public Confidence: Who Needs It?"
• "Elston to Targeted USAs: So Sorry"

May 19

• Tom Hamburger, "Iglesias recounts a lunch with politics on the menu. The fired U.S. attorney says he was targeted for not pressing charges that could have helped the GOP," Los Angeles Times, May 19, 2007.
• Dan Eggen and Amy Goldstein, "In Closed Meeting With Gonzales, Prosecutors Express Their Dismay. Many Remain Upset, Fear Damage to the Justice Department's Image," Washington Post, May 19, 2007.
• Marcy Wheeler (emptywheel), "What a Week Gonzales Had," The Next Hurrah Blog, May 19, 2007.

May 20

• Greg Gordon, "Efforts to stop 'voter fraud' may have curbed legitimate voting," McClatchy Newspapers, May 20, 2007.
• Chitra Ragavan, "Getting in Deeper... Another week reveals more lapses in judgment by the Bush team," U.S. News & World Report, May 20, 2007.
• Paul Kiel, "Po-tay-to, Po-tah-to," TPMmuckraker, May 20, 2007.

May 21

• Jeremy Jacobs, "Conyers, Sanchez express ‘extreme disappointment’ with White House," The Hill, May 21, 2007.

• Jesse Lee, "'We Will Have No Alternative…'," The Gavel, May 21, 2007.

• Editorial: "Why This Scandal Matters," New York Times, May 21, 2007.
• Hope Yen, "Specter says Gonzales might quit before vote. Some Republicans would express no confidence," Associated Press (Boston Globe), May 21, 2007.
• Eric Pfeiffer, "Gonzales exit urged before Hill vote," Washington Times, May 21, 2007.
• Jane Hamsher, "Abu Go Bye-Bye," Firedoglake, May 21, 2007.
• "Von Spakovsky and the ‘vote-suppression agenda'," Think Progress, May 21, 2007. With comments.
• Laura McGann, "Under Pressure: The Congressional Subpoena," TPMmuckraker, May 21, 2007.
• Paul Kiel, TPMmuckraker, May 21, 2007:

• "Today's Must Read"
• "Sampson to Comey: There's No 'I' in 'Team',"
• "House Dems Warn White House"
• "DoJ Doc Dump 9: Return of the Dump"

May 22

• Jason Ryan, "Key Figure in U.S. Attorney's Row Takes the Stand. Ex-Justice Dept. White House Liaison Monica Goodling Testifies Before House Panel," ABC News, May 22, 2007.
• Karen Tumulty, "Monica Goodling Testimony," Swampland Blog/TIME Magazine, May 22, 2007.
• Michael Roston, "Goodling fails to turn over documents subpoenaed by House committee," The Raw Story, May 22, 2007.
• Marcy Wheeler (emptywheel), The Next Hurrah Blog, May 22, 2007:

• "Speaking of Back-Dating Signatures"
• "What's Here is Correct"
• "Did Orrin Hatch and Byron York Get Their Oppo Research from Monica?"
• "Questions for Monica"

• Brad Friedman, "Monica in the Morning. Everything Is Unraveling...," Brad Blog, May 22, 2007.
• Jane Hamsher, "Do the Perp Walk," Firedoglake Blog, May 22, 2007.
• Paul Kiel, "Why The Tears?" TPMmuckraker, May 22, 2007.

May 23

• See Testimony of Monica Goodling, former Justice Department White House Liaison, before the House Committee on the Judiciary.

• Greg Palast, "BBC Reporter Has Rove Office Emails. Goodling/Sampson Obstruction of Justice evidence?" GregPalast.com, May 23, 2007.
• Dahlia Lithwick, "The Mouse That Roared. Monica Goodling was at the center of the prosecutor purge and still has no clue," Slate, May 23, 2007.
• James Rowley and Robert Schmidt, "Goodling Accuses Colleague of Misleading Congress (Update4)," Bloomberg News, May 23, 2007.
• Margaret Talev and Marisa Taylor, "Aide testifies that Gonzales discussed firings of U.S. attorneys," McClatchy Newspapers, May 23, 2007.
• Donna Leinwand, "Ex-Gonzales aide details 'uncomfortable' discussion," USA TODAY, May 23, 2007.
• Edward Luce and Brooke Masters, "Goodling admits ‘crossing line’ on hirings," Financial Times, May 23, 2007.
• Andrew Zajac, "Ex-Justice official admits she 'crossed a line'. Goodling testifies before House panel on firing of U.S. attorneys," Chicago Tribune, May 23, 2007.
• "CREW Sues White House Office of Administration Over Refusal to Respond to FOIA on Five Million Missing Emails," Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, May 23, 2007.
• "Goodling wanted questions on Gonzales meeting," Think Progress, May 23, 2007.
• Amanda Terkel, "Justice Department Officials Confirm White House Instigated Plan To Bypass Senate On U.S. Attorney," Think Progress, May 23, 2007.
• "Monica Goodling's Immaculate Conception," PERRspectives, May 23, 2007.
• Marcy Wheeler (emptywheel), "Did Sara Taylor Harriet Miers Appoint Tim Griffin USA on December 15, 2006?" The Next Hurrah Blog, May 23, 2007.
• Rebecca Abrahams, "Illegally Blonde: Poor, Poor Monica Goodling," The Brad Blog, May 23, 2007.

May 24

• Dana Milbank, "Monica's Own Monica Problem," Washington Post, May 24, 2007.
• Dan Eggen and Paul Kane, "Goodling Says She 'Crossed the Line'. Ex-Justice Aide Criticizes Gonzales While Admitting to Basing Hires on Politics," Washington Post, May 24, 2007.
• Paul Kane, "Goodling's lawyer told Dems to ask about AG," Capitol Briefing Blog/Washington Post, May 24, 2007.
• Editorial: "'That Strikes at the Core'. Monica Goodling concedes that a political line was crossed in hiring at the Justice Department," Washington Post, May 24, 2007.
• David Johnston and Eric Lipton, "Ex-Justice Aide Admits Politics Affected Hiring," New York Times, May 24, 2007.
• Editorial: "Witness for the Prosecutors," New York Times, May 24, 2007.
• Charlie Savage, "Former Justice aide cites political agenda. She tried to block Democratic hires," Boston Globe, May 24, 2007.
• Richard B. Schmidt, "Ex-Gonzales aide says she may have 'crossed the line'. Her testimony confirms politics were a factor in Justice Dept. personnel decisions, but the extent remains unclear," Los Angeles Times, May 24, 2007.
• Jon Ward, "Gonzales aide admits using politics," Washington Times, May 24, 2007.
• Keith Koffler, "McNulty Rebuts Testimony That He Lied To Senate Panel," CongressDaily (The Gate / National Journal), May 24, 2007.
• Eric Black, "Heffelfinger slams Justice Department," Star Tribune, May 24, 2007.
• Robert J. Elisberg, "The Revenge of the Monicas: the Sequel," The Huffington Post, May 24, 2007.
• Frank James, "Goodling's tale of Gonzales's possible witness tampering," The Swamp News Blog/Chicago Tribune, May 24, 2007.
• Christy Hardin Smith, "Just A Teeny, Tiny Question…," firedoglake Blog, May 24, 2007.
• Marcy Wheeler (emptywheel), "Monica's Loyalties," The Next Hurrah Blog, May 24, 2007.
• Greg Palast, "The Goods on Goodling and the Keys to the Kingdom. And The No Longer 'Missing' Rove Emails Revealing the Cagey Scheme to Steal 2008...," The Brad Blog, May 24, 2007.
• Think Progress, May 24, 2007:

• "Gonzales: I was just offering a shoulder to cry on"
• "Sen. Whitehouse: Gonzales May Be Guilty Of Obstruction Of Justice"
• "Rove, Fielding pay ‘mysterious’ visit to Capitol"

• Paul Kiel, TPMmuckraker, May 24, 2007:

• "Today's Must Read"
• "Bush: Justice Department Investigation Is Being 'Drug Out'"
• "Dems: No-Confidence Vote in June"
• "Former USAs Respond to Goodling Testimony"

May 25

• Richard B. Schmidt, "Inquiry widens into Justice Department hiring. The move follows testimony by a former Gonzales aide that she had considered politics in screening applicants," Los Angeles Times, May 25, 2007.
• Dan Eggen and Paul Kane, "Politics At Work In Inquiry, Bush Says. Senate Plans June Vote on Gonzales," Washington Post, May 25, 2007.
• Margaret Talev, Marisa Taylor and Lesley Clark, "Fewer candidates apply for positions as U.S. attorneys," McClatchy Newspapers, May 25, 2007.
• Michael Roston, "Conyers worries about 'false testimony' from Justice Department staff," The Raw Story, May 25, 2007.
• Paul Kiel, TPMmuckraker, May 25, 2007:

• "Today's Must Read"
• "Email Raises More Questions about Rove's Role in U.S. Attorney Appointment"
• "From Brooks Brother Rioter to Judge"
• "Senate Committee Continues Quest for Rove Emails"

May 27

• "A mass resignation at the Justice Department," Think Progress, May 27, 2007.
• Phoenix Woman, "The Good Soldier," Mercury Rising, May 27, 2007.

May 28

• Will Thomas, "The Daily Muck," TPMmuckraker, May 28, 2007.

May 29

• Michael Isikoff and Evan Thomas, "Bush's Monica Problem: The Gonzales Mess," Newsweek (truthout), May 29, 2007; June 4, 2007 issue.
• "Justice, 'tied at hip' to White House, hurts respect for law," Our Opinion Blog/USA TODAY, May 29, 2007.
• Michael Roston, "Blog: Goodling statement points to White House involvement," The Raw Story, May 29, 2007.
• Steve Chapman, "Justice by a Lower Standard," Human Events Online, May 29, 2007.
• Anna Schneider-Mayerson, "Could Alberto Gonzales Be Disbarred? He’s still a member in good standing of the Bush administration, but he has yet to be judged by his peers," The New York Observer, May 29, 2007.
• Laura McGann, "Democrats Waiting For More Than A Whiff Of Wrongdoing," TPMmuckraker, May 29, 2007.
• Paul Kiel, "How Immigration Judge Spots Went Political -- and Went Back," TPMmuckraker.com, May 29, 2007.

May 30

• Emma Schwartz and Jason McLure, "DOJ Made Immigration Judgeships Political. Internal probe examines whether Monica Goodling and other officials broke law by bypassing hiring procedures," Legal Times, May 30, 2007.
• Nick Juliano, "Justice Department expanding political hiring probe," The Raw Story, May 30, 2007.
• "Justice Dept. to probe own hiring practices. Investigation follows Gonzales' ex-aide admitting to political questions," Reuters (MSNBC), May 30, 2007.
• Caitlin Price, "DOJ confirms widened internal probe on politicized hiring decisions," Jurist, May 30, 2007.
• Amanda Terkel, "Rove-Protege Tim Griffin Resigns As U.S. Attorney," Think Progress, May 30, 2007. re Tim Griffin
• Michael Roston, "Arkansas Senator happy to see top Rove aide end term as US Attorney," The Raw Story, May 30, 2007.
• Jayne Lyn Stahl, "Paging John Ashcroft," The Huffington Post (OpEdNews), May 30, 2007.
• Paul Kiel, TPMmuckraker, May 30, 2007:

• "Bush Ducks Question on Rove Role in U.S.A. Firings"
• "WSJ: Former Rove Aide in Talks with Thompson Campaign"
• "Internal DoJ Probe Casts Wide Net"
• "Fired USA Addresses Moderate GOPers"

May 31

• Murray Waas, "The Scales Of Justice," National Journal, May 31, 2007.
• Dan Eggen, "Justice Dept. Expands Probe To Include Hiring Practices," Washington Post, May 31, 2007.
• Richard B. Schmitt, "Justice Dept. probe expands. Internal review of U.S. attorney firings extends to Civil Rights Division hiring practices," Baltimore Sun, May 31, 2007.
• Tom Hamburger, "Minnesota case fits pattern in U.S. attorneys flap. A prosecutor apparently targeted for firing had supported Native American voters' rights," Los Angeles Times, May 31, 2007.
• Charlie Savage, "Justice Dept. probes its hirings. Investigating for bias toward conservatives," Boston Globe, May 31, 2007.