Purge
Carol Lam, the United States attorney in San Diego, was fired after she put Randy Cunningham, known as Duke, in prison. Paul Charlton, in Arizona, was dismissed while he was investigating Rick Renzi. Dan Bogden, in Nevada, was fired while he was reportedly investigating Jim Gibbons, a congressman who was elected governor last year.[...]
[Debra Wong Yang of Los Angeles] was investigating Jerry Lewis, who was chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee. Ms. Lam and most of the other purged prosecutors were fired on Dec. 7. Ms. Yang, in a fortuitously timed exit, resigned in mid-October.
[...]
Kyle Sampson, the Justice Department staff member in charge of the firings, told investigators last month in still-secret testimony that Harriet Miers, the White House counsel at the time, had asked him more than once about Ms. Yang. He testified, according to Congressional sources, that as late as mid-September, Ms. Miers wanted to know whether Ms. Yang could be made to resign.
Hold up a minute. If the US Attorney firings are all aboveboard, serve at the president's pleasure, can be replaced any time, yada yada yada, then why wouldn't you just replace Yang? Why try to find a way to force her to resign?
Well, anyway, she did indeed resign, in order to take a job in a private law firm.Press reports say she got a $1.5 million signing bonus to become a partner in Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, a firm with strong Republican ties. She was hired to be co-leader of the Crisis Management Practice Group with Theodore Olson, who was President Bush’s solicitor general and his Supreme Court lawyer in Bush v. Gore. Gibson, Dunn was defending Mr. Lewis in Ms. Yang’s investigation.
Say what? She went to work for the firm that represented the man she was prosecuting as US Attorney?? Okay. Yang should have been fired. But let's have a look into that business of the White House counsel trying to force US Attorney resignations.
Rats Abandoning a Sinking Ship?
As rancor in the nation rises over handling of the war in Iraq, at least 20 senior aides have either retired or resigned from important posts at the White House, Pentagon and State Department in the past six months.[...]
"You would expect to see vacancies arise as things wind down, but it's about six months early for this kind of a mass exodus," [Paul Light, professor of public service at New York University] said.
[...]
At the White House, four top officials have stepped down, including [Deputy national Security Advisor J.D.] Crouch; Meghan O'Sullivan, another deputy national security adviser who worked on Iraq; Tom Graham, the senior director for Russia, and director for Asian affairs Victor Cha, point man for the Koreas.
[...]
Graham's resignation comes as tensions with Russia rise over U.S. missile defense plans in Europe, and Cha leaves amid concerns over North Korea's failure to comply with deadlines to eliminate its nuclear weapons programs.
[...]
The State Department has been hit hardest with at least five so-called "principals" - people in the top four tiers of the bureaucracy - stepping down.
[...]
A total of 12 senior officials have left the State Department in recent months
Isn't that Condi's bailiwick?
Colorado Campaign
Daniel J. Kopelman of Aurora, CO, whose duties include oversight and maintenance of the state's master voter registration database, was offering "GOP campaign help" in the form of voter and "fresh" fundraising lists at the web site of his privately-owned company Political Live Wires.In response to ePluribus Media's inquiries, a spokesperson for Sec. of State Mike Coffman stated that his office had no knowledge of Kopelman's "side business" and saw his actions as a "conflict of interest." Furthermore, upon learning of Kopelman's activities, Deputy Sec. of State William A. Hobbs met with the state's voter database manager and directed him to take down his web site.
But not to stop selling voter lists to the GOP?
Of Purges and Pimps
The DC Madam's assistant's day job is in the law offices of Monica Goodling's attorney. Cozy world, eh?
PTSD in the Military
[M]ore than 300 [military women have] been treated at the woman's trauma recovery program in Palo Alto, Calif., which is run by the Department of Veteran's Affairs.[...]
Of those treated for PTSD at this program, 78 percent were admitted with military sexual trauma. Therapists at the facility say applications have increased significantly.
"Sexual trauma." The women were raped by fellow soldiers. Let that sink in.
And, finally, you can watch a video of the LA police "handling" the immigration protest here.
....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.
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