Bush administration U.S. attorney firings controversy/External links: March 2007

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

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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 March 2007 related to Bush administration U.S. attorney firings controversy. Due to extensive coverage by the media on this topic, this article has been subdivided into two sections. This section is Part 1 and covers March 1 through March 15, 2007.

More links are available via the task bar.

March 1, 2007

• Dan Eggen, "Fired U.S. Attorney Says Lawmakers Pressured Him," Washington Post, March 1, 2007.
• Marisa Taylor, "Sources: GOP lawmakers tried to influence federal investigation," McClatchy Newspapers, March 1, 2007.
• Paul Kiel, TPMmuckraker, March 1, 2007:

• "Paper: Pressure Calls Came from New Mexicans"
• "BREAKING: House Committee to Subpoena Ousted Prosecutors"
• "Wilson, Domenici: No Comment"
• "Ousted Prosecutor to NPR: 'Red Flags Went Up'"

• Karina, "Judiciary Subcommittee Issues Subpoenas for Hearing on Case of Fired U.S. Attorneys," The Gavel, March 1, 2007.

March 2, 2007

• Marisa Taylor, "GOP Lawmakers Tried to Influence Federal Investigation," McClatchy Newspapers (Common Dreams), March 2, 2007.
• Paul Kiel, TPMmuckraker, March 2, 2007:

• "Today's Must Read"
• "Did Calif. Prosecutor See The Purge Coming?"
• "Senate Committee Requests Testimony from Ousted Prosecutors"
• "Watchdog: If Iglesias Names Names, We'll Follow Through"

March 3, 2007

• Robert Novak, "Probing Gonzales," Manchester Union Leader, March 3, 2007: "Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has indicated he is too busy to answer letters from Democratic congressional leaders about his firing seven U.S. attorneys involved in probes of public corruption, though a lower-level Justice Department official rejected their proposals." Scroll down to story.
• John Solomon and Dan Eggen, "White House Backed U.S. Attorney Firings, Officials Say," Washington Post, March 3, 2007.
• "Charges of political interference in U.S. attorney firings not reported by networks' evening newscasts," Media Matters for America, March 3, 2007.
• Paul Kiel, TPMmuckraker, March 3, 2007:

• "Gonzales to Dems: Shoo, Fly"
• "WaPo: It's All A Big Misunderstanding"

March 4, 2007

• Robert Parry, "Bush Family's Prosecutor Games," Consortiumnews, March 4, 2007: "George W. Bush learned at least one lesson from his father: You want your federal prosecutors to be team players who will throw a political elbow or two when the White House needs some help."
• David Johnston, Eric Lipton, and William Yardley, "A New Mystery to Prosecutors: Their Lost Jobs," New York Times, March 4, 2007.
• "Bush, irony of performance terminations," Times Daily (UK), March 4, 2007.
• Paul Kiel, "Domenici: 'I Regret Making That Call and I Apologize'," TPMmuckraker, March 4, 2007.

March 5, 2007

• "CREW files Ethics Complaint against Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM)," Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), March 5, 2007.
• Jennifer Talhelm, "Senator Complained About Fired Attorney," Associated Press (San Francisco Chronicle), March 5, 2007.
• David Johnston, "Senator Sought Dismissal of New Mexico Prosecutor," New York Times, March 5, 2007.
• Dan Eggen, "Domenici Says He Contacted Prosecutor," Washington Post, March 5, 2007.
• "N.M. senator apologizes for inquiry into corruption case. Fired U.S. attorney says he was pressed about probe on Democrat," McClatchy-Tribune (Baltimore Sun), March 5, 2007.
• Marisa Taylor, "GOP ethics under scrutiny. Two lawmakers tried to influence federal probe, sources say," McClatchy Newspapers (CentreDaily.com), March 5, 2007.
• "More subpoenas in U.S. attorney probe," Associated Press (CNN), March 5, 2007.
• Jennifer Talhelm, "Fired U.S. Attorneys to Defend Records," Associated Press (San Francisco Chronicle), March 5, 2007.
• Adam Zagorin, "U.S. Attorneys in the Line of Fire," TIME Magazine/CNN, March 5, 2007.
• Dahlia Lithwick, "Specter Detector. U.S. attorney scandal update: Who's to blame for those alarming Patriot Act revisions?" Slate, March 5, 2007. re Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.)
• John Bresnahan, "We're Not Saying We Are But...," The Crypt Blog/The Politico, March 5, 2007.
• Paul Kiel, TPMmuckraker, March 5, 2007:

• "In Arkansas, Search on for Griffin Replacement"
• "Ousted Prosecutors to Testify before House And Senate Tomorrow"
• "Watchdog Files Ethics Complaint against Domenici"
• "DoJ Official Resigned over Purged Prosecutor Flap?"
• "Fox: Official Resigned 'About a Month Ago'"
• "Purged Prosecutors: 'We Served Well'"
• "Domenici's Accusation By The Numbers"
• "Dems to DoJ Official: Don't Forget..."

March 6, 2007

• Paul Kane and Dan Eggen, "Second Lawmaker Contacted Prosecutor. Wilson Complained About Pace of Probes," Washington Post, March 6, 2007. Statement from Congresswoman Heather Wilson, March 6, 2007.
• Richard A. Serrano, "Panel to summon two more ousted U.S. attorneys," Los Angeles Times, March 6, 2007.
• Robert Schmidt, "Fired Prosecutors Say They Were Warned to Keep Quiet (Update 1)," Bloomberg News, March 6, 2007.
• "Dems cry interference as prosecutors question dismissals," CNN, March 6, 2007.
• Thomas Ferraro, "Congress examines firings of prosecutors," Washington Post, March 6, 2007.
• Karoun Demirjian, "Fired U.S. Attorneys allege improper contacts," Chicago Tribune, March 6, 2007.
• Laurie Kellman, "Fired U.S. Attorneys Felt 'Leaned On'," Associated Press (ABC News), March 6, 2007.
• "Congressman Doc Hastings Accused in Federal Prosecutors' Resignations Case," NBC (KNDO/KNDU), March 6, 2007. re Rep. Doc Hastings
• Nico Pitney, "VIDEO: Iglesias Details 'Unprecedented' Pressure Calls From Domenici and Wilson," Think Progress, March 6, 2007.
• Amanda Terkel, "Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA) Pressured Former U.S. Attorney In Federal Investigation," Think Progress, March 6, 2007.
• Paul Kiel, TPMmuckraker, March 6, 2007:

• "Today's Must Read"
• "Purged Prosecutors: First, The Senate"
• "Watchdog Requests Ethics Investigation of Wilson"
• "Cummins Describes Conversation with DoJ Official"
• "Iglesias Testifies about Conversations with Domenici and Wilson"
• "McKay Testifies about Call from Hastings' Staffer"
• "DoJ to Feinstein: Lam Is A-OK"
• "USAs: Justice Official Intimidation Call Resembled 'Possible Obstruction of Justice'"
• "Purged Prosecutors: Now, The House"
• "Domenici: 'I Still Do Not Know What He Is Talking About'"
• "DoJ Vouched for Ousted Prosecutor"

March 7, 2007

• Dan Eggen and Paul Kane, "Prosecutors Say They Felt Pressured, Threatened. Hill Republicans, Justice Dept. Cited," Washington Post, March 7, 2007.
• Laurie Kellman, "Fired Attorneys Allude to Justice Threat," Associated Press (Forbes), March 7, 2007.
• Larry Margasak, "Republicans could face new ethics probes," Associated Press (Houston Chronicle), March 7, 2007.
• Richard A. Serrano, "Fired U.S. attorneys testify before Congress. One says he 'felt sick' after calls by GOP lawmakers," Los Angeles Times, March 7, 2007.
• Nicholas Ricardi, "Fired U.S. attorney was going places. Observers had David C. Iglesias pegged as a rising GOP star," Los Angeles Times, March 7, 2007.
• David Johnston, "Prosecutors Describe Contacts From Higher Up," New York Times, March 7, 2007.
• "Justice Admits U.S. Attorney Was Forced Out," Washington Post, March 7, 2007.
• Adam Zagorin, "Why Were These U.S. Attorneys Fired?" TIME Magazine/CNN, March 7, 2007.
• Barron YoungSmith, "Revenge Of The U.S. Attorneys. Hearings Confirm Political Motivation Behind Firing Of U.S. Attorneys," The New Republic (CBS News), March 7, 2007.
• Amanda Terkel, "White House Reprimanded U.S. Attorney After He Failed To Cave To Hastings’ Pressure," Think Progress, March 7, 2007.
• Paul Kiel, TPMmuckraker, March 7, 2007:

• "Today's Must Read"
• "White House Officials Quizzed Prosecutor on Dem Investigation"
• "DoJ Official: 'I Am Shocked and Baffled'"
• "Washington Republicans Chased Ousted Prosecutor"
• "Domenici Lawyers Up"
• "Senate to Vote on Subpoenas for DoJ Officials"

March 8, 2007

• Amanda Terkel, "Former Clinton Chief Of Staff Rebuts Rove Claim That Clinton Purged Prosecutors Too," Think Progress, March 8, 2007.
• Paul Kiel, TPMmuckraker, March 8, 2007:

• "Dem Senators to Gonzales: Purge Was 'Clumsy'"
• "GOP Sen: 'I Can't Even Tell You How Upset I Am'"
• "House Members to Hit Wilson with Ethics Complaint?"
• "Subpoenas on Hold, Senators to Meet with Gonzales"
• "Watchdog Files Ethics Complaint against Hastings, Staffer"
• "Rove: Prosecutor Purge Is 'Normal and Ordinary'"
• "Specter: 'One Day There Will Be A New Attorney General'"
• "House Dems Push for More DoJ Testimony, Evidence"
• "Dem: Rove 'Needs To Try Harder'"
• "Breaking: Admin Will Not Oppose U.S. Attorney Law Change"

March 9, 2007

• Paul Kane and Dan Eggen, "Gonzales Yields On Hiring Interim U.S. Attorneys," Washington Post, March 9, 2007.
• "Krugman: Bigger scandal involves US attorneys still in office," The Raw Story, March 9, 2007: "Of the 375 cases they identified, 10 involved independents, 67 involved Republicans, and 298 involved Democrats. The main source of this partisan tilt was a huge disparity in investigations of local politicians, in which Democrats were seven times as likely as Republicans to face Justice Department scrutiny."
• Paul Kiel, TPMmuckraker, March 9, 2007:

• "AP: Administration 'Beats Abrupt Retreat' on Purge"
• "LA Times: Border Politics May Have Cost U.S. Attorney Her Job"
• "Reid: DoJ Was Set to Use Loophole"
• "U.S. Attorney Politicization Study Now Online"
• "House Purged Prosecutor Probe Moves to White House"
• "Gonzales: Things 'Should Have Been Done Better'"

March 10, 2007

• Margaret Talev and Marisa Taylor, "Rove was asked to fire U.S. attorney," McClatchy Newspapers, March 10, 2007.
• Paul Kiel, TPMmuckraker, March 10, 2007:

• "Senate Committee to Interview DoJ Officials"
• "Dem Rep: Hastings Should 'Absolutely' Be Investigated"

March 11, 2007

• Ron Hutcheson, Marisa Taylor and Margaret Talev, "White House says Rove relayed complaints about prosecutors," McClatchy Newspapers, March 11, 2007.
• Paul Kiel, TPMmuckraker, March 11, 2007:

• "Purged Prosecutor: DoJ Offered Me 'A Deal'"
• "Gonzales: 'What Else Do You Want Us To Do?'"

March 12, 2007

• Paul Kane, "Congress Demands Rove Testimony on Attorney Firings," Washington Post, March 12, 2007.
• Arianna Huffington, "The Injustice at Justice: The White House's Fingerprints Begin to Show," The Huffington Post, March 12, 2007.
• Dave Johnson, "The First US Attorney Firing," Seeing the Forest, March 12, 2007.
• Paul Kiel, TPMmuckraker, March 12, 2007:

• "GOP Sen. to Block Attorney Bill?"
• "Schumer: Let's Hear from Karl"

• Marcy Wheeler (emptywheel), "Why Would the Head of the NM GOP Squeal on Turdblossom?" The Next Hurrah Blog, March 12, 2007.

March 13, 2007

• Richard B. Schmitt, "Key figure in Justice Dept. to step down. Gonzales' chief of staff may have played a role in the firing of seven U.S. attorneys," Los Angeles Times, March 13, 2007. re D. Kyle Sampson, chief of staff to Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales, and former White House Counsel Harriet E. Miers
• Eric Lipton, "Fast-Riser’s High Hopes and Sudden Fall," New York Times, March 13, 2007.
• Dan Eggen and John Solomon, "Firings Had Genesis in White House. Ex-Counsel Miers First Suggested Dismissing Prosecutors 2 Years Ago, Documents Show," Washington Post, March 13, 2007.
• David Johnston and Eric Lipton, "White House Said to Prompt Firing of Prosecutors," New York Times, March 13, 2007.
• Lara Jakes Jordan and Deb Reichmann, "White House Mulled Firing All Attorneys," Associated Press (Washington Post), March 13, 2007.
• Donald K. Stern, Op-Ed: "Dismissing eight US attorneys," Boston Globe, March 13, 2007.
• David Bowermaster, "McKay 'stunned' by report on Bush," Seattle Times, March 13, 2007.
• Josh Marshall, "Uh-oh ... Bush got Iglesias axed," Talking Points Memo, March 13, 2007.
• Michael Isikoff, "Fuel to the Firings. Eight U.S. attorneys lost their jobs. Now investigators are assessing if the dismissals were politically motivated," Newsweek (MSNBC), March 19, 2007 (issue).
• Dan Eggen and John Solomon, "Firings Had Genesis in White House," Washington Post March 13, 2007.
• Lara Jakes Jordan, "Gonzales: Prosecutors Firings Mishandled," Associated Press (Chicago Tribune), March 13, 2007.
• "Justice's plan for firing 7 prosecutors," Associated Press (Seattle Post-Intelligencer), March 13, 2007.
• Margaret Talev, "E-mail excerpts show interest in preserving new powers," McClatchy Newspapers, March 13, 2007.
• Jake Tapper and Cindy Smith, "EXCLUSIVE: Hillary Clinton Calls for Gonzales' Resignation," Good Morning America/ABC News, March 13, 2007.
• Tracy Russo, "Governor Dean: Gonzales and Rove Must Go! Democratic Party, March 13, 2007.
• standingup, "DOJ - All we really need...Senator Kyl?" ePluribus Media, March 13, 2007. re Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.)
• Nico Pitney, Think Progress, March 13, 2007:

• "State GOP Chairman With Close Rove Ties Admits Pressuring Attorney"
• "Schumer Renews Call For Gonzales To Resign, Says Chief Of Staff 'May Have Obstructed Justice'"

• Amanda Terkel, Think Progress, March 13, 2007:

• "Gonzales Lied Under Oath, Said All Bush-Appointed Attorneys Would Be 'Senate-Confirmed'"
• "Gonzales Chief Of Staff Rebuts Rove Claim That Clinton Purged Prosecutors Too"
• "Lawmakers Urge Investigation Into Administration’s Prosecutor Purge In Abramoff Case"

• Faiz Shakir, "Ensign 'Flabbergasted' Over Attorney Firing: It Was 'Completely Mishandled By The Attorney General'," Think Progress, March 13, 2007.
• Paul Kiel, TPMmuckraker, March 13, 2007:

• "Today's Must Read"
• "Appointing Former Aide Was 'Important to Karl'"
• "Dems React to White House Involvment in Purge"
• "What Rove Knew"
• "Schumer: Gonzales Staffer 'Will Not Become The Next Scooter Libby'"
• "Doc Lists Attorneys 'in The Process of Being Pushed Out'"
• "Gonzales Was Reference for Ousted Prosecutor"
• "CREW Calls for Special Prosecutor"
• "DoJ Claimed 'No Role' in Rove Aide's Hiring"
• "Gonzales: I'm 'Dismayed'"
• "Gonzales Staffer Was 'Ready Replacement' for Rove"
• "Ensign: Still Angry"
• "Rove Deputy Worked to Get Former Aide Spot"

March 14, 2007

• "5-step plan for firings," Associated Press (Chicago Tribune), March 14, 2007.
• Andrew Zajac, "Fitzgerald: Rove tried to limit choice," Chicago Tribune, March 14, 2007.
• Richard A. Serrano, "E-mails detail White House tactics behind firings. The documents reveal criteria and plans that led to the ouster of eight U.S. attorneys," Los Angeles Times, March 14, 2007.
• "Excerpts from the e-mails," Boston Globe, March 14, 2007.
• Amy Goldstein, "White House Cites Lax Voter-Fraud Investigations in U.S. Attorneys' Firings," Washington Post, March 14, 2007.
• Greg Palast, "Bush Hit-Woman Behind Prosecutor Firings Has Long History of Purges to Protect Bush," GregPalast.com, March 14, 2007: "Harriet Miers fired investigator in 1997 to cover Bush draft-dodge."
• "Senate Judiciary Set To Vote On Subpoenas For Rove And Miers," The Crypt Blog/The Politico, March 14, 2007.
• Robert Parry, "'Prosecutor-gate': Bush's Power Grab," Consortiumnews, March 14, 2007.
• Margaret Talev and Marisa Taylor, "Justice Dept. distances White House from firings of U.S. attorneys," McClatchy Newspapers, March 14, 2007.
• Ron Hutcheson, Margaret Talev and Marisa Taylor, "Bush defends the firing of U.S. attorneys," McClatchy Newspapers, March 14, 2007.
• "Feinstein: Lam Fired Over Cunningham Prosecution," Associated Press (10news.com), March 14, 2007.
• Interview: "Leahy Vows to Unveil Events that Led to Firings," All Things Considered/NPR, March 14, 2007.
• Bob Egelko, "Firings raise concern over Justice Dept. and politics. Gonzales admits mistakes were made, but he stands by dismissal of federal prosecutors," San Francisco Chronicle, March 14, 2007.
• Editorial: "Politics, Pure and Cynical," New York Times, March 14, 2007.
• Mindy Fothergill, "Delegates seek more details into Abramoff's Guam link," KUAM News, March 14, 2007.
• Dan Froomkin, "Is Gonzales a Diversion?" Washington Post, March 14, 2007.
• James Rowley and Robert Schmidt, "Gonzales Has Few Republican Defenders on Prosecutors (Update2)," Bloomberg News, March 14, 2007.
• Thomas Ferraro, "Senate Republican urges Bush to fire Gonzales," Reuters (Washington Post), March 14, 2007.
• Laurie Kellman, "Sununu Calls for Gonzales' Dismissal," Associated Press (ABC News), March 14, 2007. Read Text of Sununu statement on Gonzales (Associated Press; posted by the Boston Globe).
• Editorial: "A Story Unravels. A hollow promise of 'accountability' in the firing of U.S. attorneys," Washington Post, March 14, 2007.
• Ken Grandlund, "Like the Musicians on the Titanic, Some Republicans Going Down with Ship in US Attorney Scandal," Bring It On! Blog, March 14, 2007.
• Nico Pitney, Think Progress, March 14, 2007:

• "White House Signals It Will Fight To Block Rove Testimony"
• "Leahy Says He’ll Subpoena Rove, Discusses Potential Crimes Involved In Attorney Purge"
• "Patrick Fitzgerald Chosen As U.S. Attorney Over Rove Pressure"

• Amanda Terkel, "Bush Falsely Claims His Prosecutor Purge Is 'A Customary Practice By Presidents'," Think Progress, March 14, 2007.
• Paul Kiel, TPMmuckraker, March 14, 2007:

• "Today's Must Read"
• "Mike Allen on Message: Pick and Stick"
• "Lam Was on DoJ Hit List before Cunningham Case"
• "Senate Committee Requests White House Interviews"
• "Bush on the Purge: 'I'm Frankly Not Happy'"
• "Depends on What You Mean by 'Weak'"
• "Schumer's Five Questions"
• "The Justice Department Needs to Learn to Share"

March 15, 2007

• "Subpoenas could target White House, Justice officials," CNN, March 15, 2007.
• "Panel OKs Subpoenas In Attorney Probe. Senate Panel OKs Subpoenas To Compel Officials To Testify In Probe Of U.S. Attorney Firings," Associated Press (CBS News), March 15, 2007.
• "Subpoenas target Justice; White House could be next," CNN, March 15, 2007.
• Dan Eggen, "Statements On Firings of Prosecutors Are Key Issue," Washington Post, March 15, 2007; also posted byMSNBC.
• Margaret Talev and Marisa Taylor, "Revised Patriot Act used in firings, officials say," McClatchy Newspapers, March 15, 2007.
• Sidney Blumenthal, "All roads lead to Rove. The White House political director was clearly at the center of the partisan plot to fire U.S. attorneys, despite the administration's clumsy attempts to pretend otherwise," Salon, March 15, 2007.
• Kathy Kiely and Kevin Johnson, "Second GOP senator suggests Gonzales should go," Associated Press (USA TODAY), March 15, 2007. re Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.)
• David Yepsen, "Tangle of politics surrounds McCoy indictment," Des Moines Register (Iowa), March 15, 2007.
• Joe Sudbay, "Gonzales testified that no U.S. Attorneys were fired for 'political reasons' after he had plotted with Karl Rove to fire U.S. Attorneys," AMERICAblog, March 15, 2007.
• John Aravosis, "Bush had confidence in Rumsfeld too...," AMERICAblog, March 15, 2007.
• Paul Kiel, TPMmucker, March 15, 2007:

• "GOPer: 'Congress Was Lied To'"
• "Today's Must Read"
• "Purged Prosecutor: No 'Paper Trail' for Administration Alibi"
• "Senate Panel OKs Subpoenas for DoJ Officials, Waits on White House"
• "Waas: Gonzales, A Likely Target, Helped Block Wiretapping Probe"
• "Snow: 'There Are A Lot of Things Going on' at The DoJ"
• "CREW: White House Breaking Records Law?"
• "U.S. Attorney Bill Coming up Tuesday"
• "Snow: 'How Would You Define 'Political Decision-Making'?"
• "Ousted U.S.A.: We Need A Special Prosecutor"
• "Rove: We Left Prosecutors Working on 'Important Investigations'"
• "ABC: Rove Suggested Firing All U.S. Attorneys"
• "Conyers Presses Gonzales on Blocking Probe"
• "Email: Most USAs Are 'Loyal Bushies'"

• Marcy Wheeler (emptywheel), "First!", The Next Hurrah Blog, March 15, 2007.