[Jonathan Adler, September 29, 2008 at 10:42am] Trackbacks
No Grand Jury for Gonzales:

Today's WaPo reports:

Former attorney general Alberto R. Gonzales will not be referred to a federal grand jury for his role in the 2006 firings of nine U.S. attorneys, but a long-awaited report to be released today will recommend that a prosecutor continue to probe the involvement of lawmakers and White House officials in the episode, according to two people familiar with the case.

Related Posts (on one page):

  1. A New Special Prosecutor:
  2. OIG/OPR Report on U.S. Attorney Firings:
  3. No Grand Jury for Gonzales:
Oren:

An intense effort to determine how the firing plan originated and whether perjury or obstruction-of-justice laws were violated in refusing to reveal the basis for the dismissals has been thwarted, partly because investigators lack the power to compel testimony from people outside the department.

From our discussion in the Palin hacking thread, that sounds like a good reason to convene a GJ and start issuing subpoenas.
9.29.2008 12:39pm
PLR:
Mukasey has appointed Nora Dannehy as special prosecutor to investigate the U.S. attorney firings, so I wouldn't be too hasty in calling Gonzales (or McNulty) with congratulations just yet.
9.29.2008 2:36pm
New World Dan (www):
that sounds like a good reason to convene a GJ and start issuing subpoenas.

I completely disagree. If there was good reason to believe that an actual crime had been committed, then there would be a good reason to convene a GJ. Using a GJ to further a political witch hunt is an abuse of power and discretion. I haven't followed this whole affair very closely, but I haven't seen any real theory advanced that an actual crime had been committed.
9.29.2008 4:59pm
Dr. T (mail) (www):
It seems that Gonzales blamed the firings on pressure from the White House and from powerful members of Congress, and apparently the investigators believe him. In my book the buck stopped with Gonzales. No one could order him to fire those attorneys against his will. If some outside pressure 'made' him behave unethically (and perhaps illegally), then he was the wrong person to be Attorney General of the U. S.
9.29.2008 7:54pm
A.W. (mail):
Sheesh, the report should have started and ended with this line.

"Hey stupid. The President can fire anyone he wants for any reason he wants."

But no, instead long after we got rid of the independant prosecutor law, we are still having them. Sheesh.
9.29.2008 11:49pm