White House Press Corps Fails To Ask A Single Question On U.S. Attorney Investigation»

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/29/press-silence-gonzales/

White House Press Corps Fails To Ask A Single Question On U.S. Attorney Investigation»


Today, the Office of Public Responsibility and the Department of Justice Inspector General released the culmination of an 18-month investigation: a report finding that the firing process of the nine U.S. Attorneys was “fundamentally flawed” and in some cases, governed by politics. The investigation also found that former attorney general Alberto Gonzales, Justice Department aide Kyle Sampson, and other Justice officials made “inconsistent, misleading, and inaccurate” statements about their reasons for firing the attorneys.

The investigators also noted that its report was in many ways incomplete, due to the White House’s stonewalling:

{T}here are gaps in our investigation because of the refusal of certain key witnesses to be interviewed by us, including former White House officials Karl Rove, Harriet Miers, and William Kelley, former Department of Justice White House Liaison Monica Goodling, Senator Pete Domenici, and his Chief of Staff. In addition, the White House would not provide us internal documents related to the removals of the U.S. Attorneys.

Today, Attorney General Michael Mukasey appointed a special prosecutor to continue the investigation into Gonzales and other officials “to determine whether any prosecutable offense” was committed in the attorney firings. Despite this action, the White House press corps made no mention of the investigation during the 40-minute briefing with spokesman Tony Fratto.

Reacting to the report today, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said the abuses documented in the report “are corrosive to the very foundations of our system of justice.” He also warned President Bush that “any misuse of the pardon power” to the benefit of administration officials involved will be seen “as an admission of wrongdoing and misuse of power.”

Watch it at link~