Rush on Popcorn in Liberal Enclaves

Kyle Sampson is tesifying tomorrow in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and he's going to tell the Senators, essentially, yeah, the US Attorneys were fired for political reasons, what's it to you?"

Eight federal prosecutors were fired last year because they did not sufficiently support President Bush's priorities, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' former chief of staff says in remarks prepared for delivery Thursday to Congress.

"The distinction between 'political' and 'performance-related' reasons for removing a United States attorney is, in my view, largely artificial," said Kyle Sampson.

The aide, who quit because of the furor over the firings, is to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee. A copy of his prepared remarks was obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press.

"A U.S. attorney who is unsuccessful from a political perspective … is unsuccessful," Sampson said.

I think I know what Sampson is trying to get at, but this is just terrible spin. He's peddling a viewpoint that has been totally discredited by everybody in government. You can't use the Justice Department as a proxy for the Republican National Committee, period. US Attorneys serve the President but they also serve the law, and when they're asked to investigate bogus claims of voter fraud to specifically target Democrats, or when they're asked to prosecute more Democrats and shield Republicans, that's simply territory which is forbidden.

Of course, Sampson has apparently already lied to Congress once, so why should he care about peddling this nonsense on his return trip?

The Justice Department turned over yet more documents to Congress today -- documents which seem to show that Alberto Gonzales' chief of staff Kyle Sampson was responsible for misleading Congress about Karl Rove's role in replacing a U.S. attorney.

On February 23, acting Assistant Attorney General wrote Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and other senators in response to questions about the appointment of Timothy Griffin, a former aide to Rove. In the letter, Hertling stated "The Department is not aware of Karl Rove playing any role in the decision to appoint Mr. Griffin."

But emails subsequently released by the Justice Department showed that wasn't the case. Last December, for example, Sampson wrote in an email that Griffin's appointment was "important to Harriet, Karl, etc." Other emails showed that Rove's deputy had been intimately involved in the effort to get Griffin installed as the U.S. Attorney in Eastern Arkansas.

There's another email where Sampson suggests that a letter which references Rove "to [the White House Counsel's Office] today for their review," further implicating their involvement.

And in a related story, Rove is mentioned in a curious thank-you note from Sen. Pete Domenici's chief of staff:

“Thanks for everything,” Domenici chief of staff Steve Bell wrote Rove and two other White House officials, including Rove’s political deputy, Scott Jennings, in a Jan. 8, 2007 e-mail that forwarded the name of a candidate to replace Iglesias.

It's more than curious that new documents came out TODAY impeaching Sampson's prior testimony, the day before he is set to testify again. Clearly there's a siege mentality at the Department of Justice right now. Steve Benen says "it's open warfare over there" with all the top staffers turning on one another. Paul McNulty is blaming Monica "I plead the Fifth because I was intimately involved with this whole thing and I'd have to lie to you if I testified" Goodling. Gonzales is trying to blame Sampson, and he's running away from reporters who seek to ask him about the scandal. This document dump is of a piece of the open warfare. And Sampson appears to be less pissed off with Gonzales than just thick-headed about what is allowable and unethical in the Justice Department. But his obstinacy is about to blow the whole cover story.

Tomorrow's gonna be FUN.