Rove And Gonzales Planned Attorney Purge In January 2005

by Steve

OK Pat Leahy, I’d say the time to go easy on this administration is now officially over.

New unreleased e-mails from top administration officials show that the idea of firing all 93 U.S. attorneys was raised by White House adviser Karl Rove in early January 2005, indicating Rove was more involved in the plan than the White House previously acknowledged.

The e-mails also show that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales discussed the idea of firing the attorneys en masse while he was still White House counsel, weeks before he was confirmed as attorney general.

The e-mails directly contradict White House assertions that the notion originated with recently departed White House counsel Harriet Miers, and was her idea alone.

Two independent sources in a position to know have described the contents of the e-mail exchange, which could be released as early as Friday. They put Rove at the epicenter of the imbroglio and raise questions about Gonzales' explanations of the matter.

The e-mail exchange is dated early January 2005, more than a month before the White House acknowledged it was considering firing all the U.S. attorneys — and while Gonzales was still White House counsel. On its face, the plan is not improper, inappropriate or even unusual: The president has the right to fire U.S. attorneys at any time, and presidents have done so when they took office.

What has made the issue a political firestorm is the White House's insistence that the idea came from Miers and was swiftly rejected. White House press secretary Tony Snow told reporters Tuesday that Miers had suggested firing all 93, and that it was "her idea only." Snow said Miers' idea was quickly rejected by the Department of Justice.

So in other words, they pinned this on the lady who has left the cabal, to cover for their lies.

When does Tony Snow resign, now that his credibility is in tatters? Keep in mind that Gonzales hatched this idea with Rove while the former was still White House counsel, meaning that he went over to Justice ready to politicize his entire corps of federal prosecutors. Oh, and did I mention that both he and Tony Snow have now been proven to be liars?

There’s one additional element here: if Rove was working on this right after the 2004 election, it means that Bush knew about it as well.