Lawmaker's Aide Targeted Prosecutor Before List Was Made

Source: Washington Post

An aide to Sen. Christopher S. Bond (R-Mo.) urged the White House to replace the U.S. attorney in Kansas City, Mo., months before Todd P. Graves's name was included on a Justice Department list of federal prosecutors the Bush administration was thinking of pushing out of their jobs.

A spokeswoman for Bond said yesterday that the senator's former counsel, Jack Bartling, contacted the White House counsel's office in the spring of 2005, without Bond's permission. According to the spokeswoman, Bartling said that Graves's replacement "would be favored," because the prosecutor's wife and brother-in-law had stirred ethics complaints in Missouri.

Graves's name was included on a January 2006 memo, drafted by the then-chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, that recommended to the White House seven U.S. attorneys who "might be considered for removal and replacement," according to administration and legislative sources. Two months later, on March 10, 2006, Graves resigned.

Graves is the second U.S. attorney whose ouster is known to have been encouraged by the office of a Republican senator. Sen. Pete V. Domenici (N.M.) complained last October about New Mexico's David C. Iglesias, who was later fired.

Read more: www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/08/AR2007050801993.html

:evilgrin:

could blame Graves for leaving when he did? (USA in Mo)
Who could blame Graves for leaving when he did?
We know that eight ousted U.S. attorneys got the boot because they no longer were seen as supremely loyal to President Bush.

Now it appears that — to his credit — former U.S. attorney Todd Graves of the Western District of Missouri can be added to the group of eight.

The precise motivation for Graves’ departure in March 2006 may never be known. Based on his brief statement Friday, Graves may not know either.

But, like the others, Graves had not always gone along with the Karl Rove-written GOP playbook when it came to using the Justice Department to improve Republican odds at the polls.

Just a few months before, in November 2005, Graves had refused to sign a Justice Department complaint against the state of Missouri alleging that local election authorities — mostly in rural areas — had failed to properly maintain their voter registration lists. His name eventually appeared on the suit, although he never signed it.


Congress widens Justice Department probe
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congress sought cooperation from one Justice Department official and prepared to put the agency's former White House liaison under oath in a widening investigation into the politics of Justice Department decision-making.

The Senate Judiciary Committee asked Bradley Schlozman, a former senior civil rights attorney and U.S. attorney, to speak with investigators. The Justice Department, meanwhile, said it wouldn't try to prevent Congress from granting immunity to White House liaison Monica Goodling if she testifies before a committee.

~snip~


Committee members said they wanted to know whether U.S. Attorney Todd Graves of Kansas City, Mo., was forced out for not endorsing that lawsuit, which was ultimately dismissed. Graves resigned from his post in March 2006 and Schlozman replaced him as interim U.S. attorney.

Five days before the November 2006 election, Schlozman filed another lawsuit, this time accusing members of a liberal activist group of voter registration fraud. Justice Department policy discourages such lawsuits so close to the election.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=103&topic_id=278209#280383

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=103&topic_id=278209

Questions arise about former U.S. attorney in KC
http://www.kansascity.com/153/v-print/story/95985.html

Justice Department hiring practices under investigation
Decisions made by former U.S. attorney in KC show illegal bias, investigators think.
http://www.kansascity.com/105/v-print/story/96927.html


Congress widens Justice Department probe
http://www.kansascity.com/444/v-print/story/97395.html

Testimony requested on U.S. attorney firings
A Senate committee wants a former U.S. attorney in KC to discuss voter fraud efforts.
http://www.kansascity.com/153/v-print/story/97960.html