They Were Who We Thought They Were
The House Judiciary Committee just concluded a 2.5 year investigation into the firings of federal prosecutors under Bush, and the results are pretty damning. Most importantly, the report ties Karl Rove and Harriet Miers directly to the firings:
The dismissal of New Mexico U.S. Attorney David C. Iglesias in December 2006 followed extensive communication among lawyers and political aides in the White House who hashed over complaints about his work on public corruption cases against Democrats, according to newly released e-mails and transcripts of closed-door House testimony by former Bush counsel Harriet Miers and political chief Karl Rove.
A campaign to oust Iglesias intensified after state party officials and GOP members of the congressional delegation apparently concluded he was not pursuing the cases against Democrats in a way that would help then- Rep. Heather Wilson in a tight reelection race in New Mexico, according to interviews and Bush White House e-mails released Tuesday by congressional investigators. The documents place the genesis of Iglesias's dismissal earlier than previously known.
The disclosures mark the end of a 2 1/2 year investigation by the House Judiciary Committee, which sued to gain access to Bush White House documents in a dispute that struck at the heart of a president's executive power. House members have reserved the right to hold a public hearing this fall at which Rove, Miers, and other aides could appear.
Will Rove be prosecuted? Will this lead to other investigations into how things went so wrong during the Bush years? Hard to say just yet. In the meanwhile, TPM is raking through all the documents just released, and HuffPo invites you to help them sort through all 700 pages and pick out the juicy bits.
- Sam duPont's blog
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