Sampson Clarifies That Politicizing US Attorneys Is OK
by Steve
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Former Gonzales Chief of Staff Kyle Sampson will be testifying today, and will proudly throw it back in Democrats’ faces by telling them that 1) the firings were political because all US attorneys must adhere to the president’s agenda and do what he wants; and 2) he knows of no involvement by Karl Rove in getting Tim Griffin appointed for Arkansas. He sees little risk in doing this because he feels that the only problem in all of this is that Justice wasn’t accurate in what it told Congress already about the matter. He doesn’t acknowledge the bogus nature of his argument, and it will be up to committee Democrats to point it out to him and perhaps mention to him the jeopardy he will place himself and others in if he pursues such a defense. There was a coordinated effort to mislead Congress about Rove’s role in these firings, and that banana peel is there for hacks like Sampson to slip on today.
Paul Kiel over at Josh’s TPM Muckraker tells us the flash points and weaknesses in Sampson’s bravado that need to come out in today’s testimony.
As I’ve said before, and this Washington Post op-ed reinforces, the GOP myth about voter fraud is a smokescreen here, and since the GOP opened this door Democrats should drive a truck through it and call the administration’s bluff by pushing for a new Voting Rights Act that protects voters from the disenfranchising tactics of the GOP and their electronic voting contractors.
Alberto Gonzales has lost the support of those in his own department, and I suspect that condescending drivel from Sampson today won’t help things, nor will the new swift boating of David Iglesias from a far right group of cultists who are against activist judges and filing campaign finance reports.
To hacks like these, justice is simply political, and not fair or about laws. And yet these were the same people who were screaming all during the 1990's about morals, values, and the Janet Reno Justice Department. In a way, they are being consistent: back in the 90's they thought that Reno should turn her department into a full-time investigative shop to bag Clinton and pursue all the wild stories from the "black helicopter" crowd. Now the same crowd thinks it is appropriate for Bush to fire federal attorneys who have the gall to pursue prosecutions of Republicans and those who travel and profit in those circles, and replace them with prosecutors who will turn their offices into extensions of the RNC and the White House political operation.