Ex-Counsel Miers Won’t Testify

Former White House counsel Harriet Miers will refuse to appear before the House Judiciary Committee today. A letter to the committee claims Miers has “absolute immunity” from being forced to testify because the president has asserted executive privilege, the Washington Post reports. The committee was seeking Miers’ testimony about the…

Jul 12, 2007 2:53 PM CDT

Ex-Aide: Bush and I Didn’t Discuss Firings

Former White House political director Sara Taylor testified today that she did not discuss the upcoming firings of federal prosecutors with President Bush. “I did not speak to the president about removing U.S. attorneys,” Taylor said. “I did not attend any meetings with the president where that matter was discussed.”…

Jul 11, 2007 7:58 PM CDT

Ex-Aide to Answer Few Questions

Updated: The former White House political director is putting restrictions on her testimony today before a Senate committee investigating the firings of at least eight U.S. attorneys. Sara Taylor will not testify about matters shielded by executive privilege but will answer questions “that are appropriate for a private citizen to…

Jul 11, 2007 4:34 PM CDT

DOJ Officials Support Report, Boss

Updated: Did Attorney General Alberto Gonzales misspeak in April 2005 when he made this statement to senators? “There has not been one verified case of civil liberties abuse” of the FBI’s investigative powers under the USA Patriot Act. It all depends on what the meaning of “abuse” is, according to…

Jul 11, 2007 4:24 PM CDT

Career Attorney Targets DOJ in Editorial

A 25-year career attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice has caused a stir by critiquing in scathing terms his employer and the administration of President George W. Bush in a recent newspaper editorial. “In the course of its tenure since the Sept. 11 attacks, the Bush administration has turned…

Jul 11, 2007 1:00 AM CDT

AG Overlooked Reported Violations

U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified two years ago that the FBI had not abused its investigative powers under the USA Patriot Act even though he had received several reports of improper surveillance by the agency, the Washington Post reports. Gonzales had received at least six reports of procedural or…

Jul 10, 2007 3:15 PM CDT

Bush Asserts Executive Privilege

The White House has asserted executive privilege and refused to turn over documents regarding the firing of at least eight U.S. attorneys. The administration will withhold documents from former White House counsel Harriet Miers and former political director Sara Taylor, and the officials will not testify, the Associated Press reports.…

Jun 28, 2007 3:57 PM CDT

White House Subpoenaed

The Senate Judiciary Committee has subpoenaed the White House, the vice president’s office and the Justice Department, setting up a potential constitutional conflict. The committee seeks documents to learn more about the legal justification for the National Security Agency’s warrantless wiretapping program as well as the telecommunications companies that aided…

Jun 28, 2007 2:36 PM CDT

AG Meets With Slain Prosecutor’s Family

During a visit to Seattle, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales met today with the family of a federal prosecutor shot and killed by an unknown sniper five years ago as he sat working in his home near a window. The visit gave Tom Wales’ family hope for an increased federal…

Jun 28, 2007 2:27 AM CDT

DOJ Official Withdraws Nomination

The Justice Department’s acting associate attorney general has withdrawn his nomination for the permanent job. William Mercer said in a letter that he will return to his regular duties as U.S. Attorney in Montana, citing opposition to his nomination, the Washington Post reports. Mercer has been criticized for splitting his…

Jun 25, 2007 2:54 PM CDT

Agency Seeks DOJ Help in Cheney Dispute

Vice President Dick Cheney is claiming that his office is exempt from a presidential order regulating handling of national security information. Cheney has claimed for the last four years that his office does not need to comply because is not fully a part of the Bush administration, the Los Angeles…

Jun 22, 2007 8:00 PM CDT

Ashcroft Testifies on Surveillance Disputes

Former Attorney General John Ashcroft appeared in a closed-door session before a House committee yesterday to testify about Bush administration disputes over a domestic surveillance program. The committee is considering a bill that would rewrite the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which requires a special court to issue warrants for domestic…

Jun 22, 2007 4:21 PM CDT

DOJ Official Stands by Testimony

Prepared remarks by Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty show he will defend his prior testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee without lashing out at those who said his previous statements were inaccurate. McNulty will testify today before a House Judiciary subcommittee as part of the ongoing controversy over the firing…

Jun 21, 2007 3:36 PM CDT

Politics Harmed Career DOJ Lawyers, Officials Say

Six officials from the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division are calling into question statements by their former boss that he did not take any improper actions against career lawyers. Bradley Schlozman acknowleged in congressional testimony that he had bragged about hiring conservatives and Republicans, but denied politics played a part…

Jun 21, 2007 3:10 PM CDT

DOJ Spurns Iraq Whistleblower Suits

A lawyer who represents whistleblowers accuses the Justice Department of dragging its feet in investigating fraud and corruption by companies hired by the government to work in Iraq.

Lawyer Alan Grayson told the House subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security that the department appears to be stonewalling, the Boston Globe reports.

“In our fifth year in the war in Iraq, the Bush administration has not litigated a single case against any war profiteer under the False Claims Act,” he said.

The department has declined to join 10 Iraq whistleblower suits filed under the False Claims Act, the newspaper reports. The government used the law last year to recover more than $3 billion in domestic cases…

Jun 20, 2007 3:06 PM CDT