alternate titles…
My Investigators Trump Your Investigators
or
My Claims of Bush Administration Inequities is More Important Than Yours.
I’m just free thinking the irony here.
You’ve got the OSC (US Office of Special Counsel) investigating the firing of the US Attorney Iglesias and potential Hatch Act violations by Karl Rove & Scott Jennings and then the OPM (Office of Personnel Management) investigating the OSC for their handling of Hatch Act cases.
The number of various potential Hatch act violations took a major jump in number…
See this CNN report for some background…
This report also suggests that a group of 12 employees that were reassigned by the OSC are represented by an attorney who has asked that the case be reassigned.
Debra Katz, an attorney representing the employees, alleged that Bloch launched the investigation into political activity at the White House because he feared repercussions from the investigation of his own activities.
The White House would find it difficult to fire Bloch if he is leading an investigation into the White House, she suggested in a letter to White House counsel Fred Fielding.
Then of course, you have the Senate Judiciary investigations and the House Oversight Committee and it’s clear that the remaining days of the Bush administration are likely to continually devolve as the number of investigations grow.
I’m finding it hard to believe that we are going to get through the summer without an appointment (or 2) of ‘Independent Prosecutors’ on some of these issues and it’s clear that the roller coaster ride is starting to roll.
Why is it that I am thinking that Fred Fielding is going to simply quit? It can’t be the pay, can it?
Bush seems to have given up on the “signing statement” thing. Do you suppose Fred told him it was a loser? His previous White House counsels haven’t been constitutional law scholars, have they?
Has he signed much of anything lately? I don’t think much legislation has reached his desk just yet but they are going over the budget these days and obviously the War Supplemental won’t require a signing statement.
I haven’t considered that there’s been a change lately re. his signing statements.
As for surrounding himself with constitutional law scholars…I am gathering that Regent hasn’t been churning them out yet and Texas gave us Kenneth Starr – ‘nough said
They start their Con Law class with a prayer at Regent…that the Constitution will become moldy from disuse, and be replaced by the NT, I believe.
Yes, he’s signed a couple of things, and one seemed right for a signing statement that didn’t come up (although he often did them much later.) I’ll research.
I was lazy and I was going to quote somewhere that I had read that Fielding seriously wanted to work out a compromise with the Senate Judiciary committee but Bush has flatly said no.
I do believe that Fred is aware of the political implications of a stalwart ‘executive privilege’ defense by his administration and I do sort of wonder whether he has the stomach to ride out the roller coaster that appears to be climb towards an apex. Perhaps I am wrong and he fully anticipated a bitter, partisan couple of years defending the antics of the cowboys in power.
The curious thing about keeping Gonzales in office has to be that this administration makes absolutely no effort towards putting our best/brightest people into important places can only be dispiriting to anyone in the administration that cares about this country. The tie in to Fred Fielding should be obvious.
BTW…I’m not sure that I would count Fred among constitutional scholars
On a scale of Regent to Jefferson, Fielding is in the lower quartile but way right of Gonzales.
You are spot on with respect to the morale of competent Republicans. That’s what’s happening in the Attorneygate scandal; those honest people who remain know that every case they try from here on out will be challenged.
In a sense, the stodgy structure of the Supreme Court works in the favor of progressives on this one. If the mood of the country is to “throw the bums out” and the SCOTUS finds a case or two in favor of a very strong executive, they run the risk of giving power to the next Democratic president. While these guys are conservative, they aren’t necessarily stupid and since their terms will outlast Bush and Obama, they may actually resort to reading the Constitution themselves.
Well, I think that they try to write an extremely narrow opinion which suits the situation but attempts to not define precedent for these types of situations…sort of like Bush v. Gore
To assume otherwise is to assume that they are not above a have their cake and eat it too mentality.
Fred however recognizes that most of any executive privilege claims will go down to defeat and are at best a stall tactic, which still has 20 months to go.
To that end, I am seeing a fatigued George these days, perhaps resigned to the judgements that history is certain to make about his failed presidency. If only the press would tell the stories that need to be told and not run away from them – i.e. – Lt. Col. Yingling speaking out, surprisingly enough published in the UK.
i recommend this diary, if only for the superchicken quote.
😉
I’m showing my age I guess