Should this organization really have such an influence in our politics? The National Rifle Association is urging the Bush administration to withdraw its support of a bill that would prohibit suspected terrorists from buying firearms. Backed by the Justice Department, the measure would give the attorney general the discretion to block gun sales, licenses or […]
As well as violating the rights of U.S. Citizens: The Bush administration is urging Congress to pass a law that would halt dozens of lawsuits charging phone companies with invading ordinary citizens’ privacy through a post-Sept. 11 warrantless surveillance program. The measure is part of a legislative package drafted by the Justice Department to relax […]
This is from “the Decider“: President Bush gave embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales a strong vote of confidence on Monday despite scant support and scathing criticism from key Republicans. “This is an honest, honorable man, in whom I have confidence,” Bush said. The president said that Gonzales’ testimony before skeptical Judiciary Committee senators last week […]
From Roll Call via Think Progress: In a second blow to House Republicans this week, the FBI raided a business tied to the family of Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.) Thursday afternoon as part of an ongoing investigation into the three-term lawmaker. Details of the raid on Patriot Insurance Agency in Sonoita, Ariz., were not immediately […]
Today’sNYT: Four senators said Monday that they suspected that the Justice Department had failed to turn over all relevant documents related to the dismissals of eight United States attorneys. The department has released more than 3,000 pages of e-mail messages and other files. But, the senators wrote in a letter to Attorney General Alberto R. […]
Perhaps this from the WSJ Blogs gives a good reason: If there’s any doubt about the importance of getting a record of Senate investigative interviews, consider the case of J. Steven Griles. Griles, the former deputy Interior secretary, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Washington today to lying to Senate investigators when he […]
After 6 years you think we would all get used to “Bush speak”: Six of the eight U.S. attorneys fired by the Justice Department ranked in the top third among their peers for the number of prosecutions filed last year, according to an analysis of federal records. In addition, five of the eight were among […]
The document dump from the Department of Justice has shown one very well-known name on the list of those to possibly be fired: U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald was ranked among prosecutors who had “not distinguished themselves” on a Justice Department chart sent to the White House in March 2005, when he was in the […]
More very damaging reports coming out. This brings us back to the whole wiretapping issue, and it appears the FBI may have broken the law. That is not some left-wing conspiracy, that is the report from the Justice Department’s Inspector General: The FBI repeatedly failed to follow the strict guidelines of the Patriot Act when […]
Getting someone to prosecute corrupt politicians effectively is a hard thing, but for Bush, getting someone to not prosecute them is apparently harder: The Bush administration has quietly asked San Diego U.S. Attorney Carol Lam, best known for her high-profile prosecutions of politicians and corporate executives, to resign her post, a law enforcement official said. […]