Sampson, Ongoing

The Times covers the testimony of Kyle Sampson, the former chief of staff to embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales:

WASHINGTON, March 29 — The former chief of staff to Alberto R. Gonzales testified  on Thursday that he had consulted regularly with the attorney general about dismissing United States attorneys, disputing Mr. Gonzales’s public account of his role as very limited.

The former aide, D. Kyle Sampson, who resigned two weeks ago, told the Senate Judiciary Committee that Mr. Gonzales’s statements about the prosecutors’ dismissals were inaccurate and that the attorney general had been repeatedly advised of the planning for them.

The two men talked about the dismissal plans over a two-year period, Mr. Sampson said, beginning in early 2005 when Mr. Gonzales was still the White House counsel. Mr. Sampson said he had briefed his boss at least five times before December 2006, when seven of the eight prosecutors were ousted.

OK, I will take a stand here and pronounce that this was not helpful to Gonzales.  The Times editors joined in:

But if Mr. Sampson was trying to fall on his sword, he had horrible aim. In testimony that got so embarrassing for the White House that the Republicans tried to cut it off, Mr. Sampson simply ended up making it clearer than ever that the eight prosecutors were fired for political reasons.

He provided more evidence, also, that the attorney general and other top Justice Department officials were dishonest in their initial statements about the firings.     

"Fired for political reasons" is pretty vague, considering that these people were appointed for political reasons.

Dana Milbank of the WaPo has more - apparently Mr. Sampson staged an "I Don't RememberFest" - look for him to appear as a spokesman for gingko-bilboa, if he remembers to show up.  But I am not criticicizing!  Given the temper of the times, and the Dems desire for a perjury prosecution, not remembering may be the safer stratgey.

Comments

[BarbaraS]

The surge must be working. Tom is getting desperate. He's running out of rants and is reduced to the sexual deviations and beastility like all the muslim sex starved youths. The US is at the doors of Iran and likely to bomb. The last jihadist frontier. There goes all the money for the jihadist movement. There goes Tom's job in that movement. What's he going to do? The only thing he knows is blowing his mouth. Not many jobs in that field. And to add icing on the cake the dems and the media will like the cowards and traitors they are.

[Tom]

Barry,
I never said he served. I was being facetious.

And, based on his incessant cheerleading of WAR.

Do you and PUKE date? Does Old Sara and the...you-know-whats know?

A three-somes, but entiure herds.,..??

[PeterUK]

I didn't,It was Mark Garritty who messed his pants and ran away

Bravely Marky ran away,
Bravely ran away, away.

When danger reared its ugly head,
he bravely turned his tail and fled.
Yes, brave Mark Garrity turned about
And gallantly, he chickened out.

Bravely taking to his feet,
He beat a very brave retreat,
Bravest of the brave, Mark Garrity.

[PeterUK]

"A three-somes, but entiure herds.,..?

These three "somes" what are they,and where can one find herds of Entiure,are they native to New Jersey?

[Lady Sara]

I speak for myself Sara. Iran could care less what Bush or the US congress says. They have no fear of him, or us. Perhaps they are wrong. I sincerely hope so.

Barry, I agree as to Iran, but I don't think GWB's words of support were meant for Iran. I think they were meant for the British, as a show of support for them during this crisis.

[Tom]

PUKE,
You don't know?

[Tom]

Barbie,
Hopefully I'll run of rants before we run out of soldiers.

Do YOU even care, or is this just right wing stupidity??

Do YOU care more about Bush's policy than you do for America lives??

It sure sounds that way.

[Tom]

A top strategist for the Texas Democrats who was disappointed by the Bill Clinton years, Mr. Dowd was impressed by the pledge of Mr. Bush, then governor of Texas, to bring a spirit of cooperation to Washington. He switched parties, joined Mr. Bush’s political brain trust and dedicated the next six years to getting him to the Oval Office and keeping him there. In 2004, he was appointed the president’s chief campaign strategist.

Looking back, Mr. Dowd now says his faith in Mr. Bush was misplaced.

In a wide-ranging interview here, Mr. Dowd called for a withdrawal from Iraq and expressed his disappointment in Mr. Bush’s leadership.

He criticized the president as failing to call the nation to a shared sense of sacrifice at a time of war, failing to reach across the political divide to build consensus and ignoring the will of the people on Iraq. He said he believed the president had not moved aggressively enough to hold anyone accountable for the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, and that Mr. Bush still approached governing with a “my way or the highway” mentality reinforced by a shrinking circle of trusted aides.

“I really like him, which is probably why I’m so disappointed in things,” he said. He added, “I think he’s become more, in my view, secluded and bubbled in.”

[Lady Sara]

Tom: Old Sara took a time out to get some exercise. 30 laps in the pool, a nice relaxing Jacuzzi, a glass of good wine and some classic Fleetwood Mac keeps me young at heart. I'm sorry that I don't find you attractive, but that's the breaks kiddo. However, just to show you what a nice person I really am, how 'bout if I arrange for a couple of Visas, we go to Iraq together (you'll have to pay your own way though). I need someone to carry my bags. I'll protect you. I am sharpshooter qualified with both rifles and pistol. You up for that?

[cathyf]

How many people in 1860 knew how to read

Interesting statistic from a century before: Thomas Paine's Common Sense sold 1 million copies, at a time when the 13 colonies had a population of 3 million.

Compare that to Harry Potter Six books have sold 250 million copies. That's a bit over 40 million copies per book, compared to a world population of 6 billion.

So don't get all snooty about how much better-educated you are compared to our ancestors...

[MikeS]

O-toma.
I am disappointed that we have allowed large numbers of our citizens to be deceived by tom Queada publicists about the situation in Iraq. It is very sad that in general many accept the word of leftist journalists over the reports of our troops and commanders regarding Iraq.

I would caution against misinterpreting polling results. You may be misunderstanding the responses of people like me. For example although I have always been a strong supporter of this war, I too want our troops to come home as soon as possible. Without using ESP I have no way of knowing for sure when that might be possible. But, based on progress to date in the training of Iraqi forces and the performance of those troops in battle and the recent commitment of the new government of Iraq, I would say that a large reduction in about 2 years seems reasonable if progress continues apace.

I do think it is a ridiculous idea to tell the enemy when we plan to do anything.

[Tom]

Cathy,What the hell do the numbers you quote have to do with how many Americans could read in 1860?

And can you provide you link to the sales figures for books in 1760?

And oh, the population of the colonies in 1760 was nowhere near 3,000,000.

[Tom]

Cathy:
E. Brittanica: In 1650 the population of the colonies had been about 52,000; in 1700 it was perhaps 250,000, and by 1760 it was approaching 1,700,000.

Common Sense, Paine's pro-independence monograph published anonymously on 10 January 1776 spread quickly among literate colonists. About 120,000 copies are alleged [attribution needed] to have been distributed throughout the colonies...

[Tom]

MikeS,
Why do you think YOU'RE so right, and Americans who disagree are so wrong...or...dumb by your measure??

I find it insulting to Americans.

[Tom]

Old Sara,
No thanks, why not take PUKE and maybe slip a lamb or two aboard?

And as I mentioned before, I have a beautiful and very intelligent wife..who could care less about how well she handles guns. (And I'm sure your riflle and pistol collection would scare those insurgents silly.)

You don't seem to understand: I don't think ANY Americans should be in Iraq.

DUH.

[SlimGuy]

Poll number spun and begun.

We are supposed to believe that any amount of less than satisfaction means opposition of the most extreme.

Maybe 12 to 14 per cent are hard core no war at any cost types. The balance are a varied group of opposition v I wish it had been done different in my view.

None of the other category fits the meme of the extreme, but they wish to throw up anything but extreme support as being extreme opposition. Cooking the books pure and simple.

Hell, I am one who says we should grab the enemy by the throat and choke them like a chicken and ring their neck for the better effect. So maybe in a poll I would show up as less than satisfied with the progress of the PC version of war.

PR is a wonderful thing until it is used like a prostitute and thrown away to create an impression that does not match reality.

[Lady Sara]

Tom: I never said one word about a rifle or pistol collection, I said I was sharpshooter qualified. I also didn't say go to Iraq to fight, I said I'd protect you if you would carry my bags. I was actually thinking about a sightseeing and archaeological research trip.

Sorry, I don't believe anyone as mean and offensive as you has a wife, let alone a beautiful and intelligent one. Do you let her out without her burkha? I took you more for a girly man with your obsession with PeterUK, lack of military service, and all.

[SlimGuy]

You don't seem to understand: I don't think ANY Americans should be in Iraq.

DUH.

Posted by: Tom | April 01, 2007 at 12:50 AM

Good you smoke your dope and hug up to your I hate America piece of a piece.

Yup get you some when the bad guys cut your throat just before you blow your load. I know you will like that.

Feel free to spit your lines out, you look so cute and fit in to your current oh so smart by my own choice ballot..

You can do that because some of us will do the dirty work to give you the opportunity to let you play your dirty gamesmanship.

So suck up a line of blow! Don't worry be happy!

Dip you wick into the honeypot of your life.

Works for me.

But never ever think beyond the box. It is all you have. Rub a dub dub.

[Lady Sara]

Slim: reminds me of a poll in the closing days of the Regan Administration that my husband was part of. They asked if in view of the upcoming Presidential election, did he support change. Since Regan couldn't run again, the only sensible answer was yes. Those yes answers were tallied as votes for Dukakis, which poll results then reflected as Dukakis with an 18 pt. lead. A lead, BTW, that did a complete turn-a-round just a few weeks later and Bush41 ended up with a 17 pt. lead.

I took a polling week long seminar one time and we spent a great deal of time getting instruction on how to develop questions that would give us the results we wanted. I think that is a stupid way to conduct polls and makes them useless, but that is exactly what the polling companies do.

[SlimGuy]

Sara

In between comments I was surfing other blogs and I went to a Powerline post that had a video of Ronald Regan giving a presentation to Parliament in England during the Falklands war time frame.

Go watch it and see how few times he looked down at his prepared notes.

The man was speaking from his heart and with his true beliefs.

He wasn't talking to the poll number talking points. He said what he believed without the butter to slide it thru.

Truth works each time it is tried.

Oh Sara about your offer of the trip to Iraq to the troll of sorts. I have the feeling if you offered him a trip with benefits that before you left the airport this guy would be reaching for the Viagra. Just sayin.

I read between the lines of your posts you have the passion of your convictions. That kind of commitment usually indicates how your life is handled.

[SlimGuy]

I regret that the troll bunch seems to have influenced a lot of the regulars here not to post today.

You all are missed and if the effort to take down the trolls is wrong you have my apologies.

But even if you ignore them to the full extent they will still disrupt in their way.

I withdrew from them for a day and your efforts did little to dissuade them.

So regular posters back to your deeds and I will try to step back an view your wisdom and insight.

[Lady Sara]

Slow leak

Round up the usual suspects! A leak has sprung on Capitol Hill! And some folks at the Senate Judiciary Committee are most unhappy about it.

Seems Jennifer Leathers, a committee hearing clerk, sent an e-mail to the committee's staff on Wednesday at 10:20 a.m.: "Attached is the written testimony and CV of D. Kyle Sampson, former chief of staff to the attorney general, for tomorrow's hearing titled 'Preserving Prosecutorial Independence: Is the Department of Justice Politicizing the Hiring and Firing of U.S. Attorneys? -- Part III.' "

Nine minutes later, a clearly concerned Bruce A. Cohen, the committee's chief counsel, sent a follow-up to everyone: "Please do NOT release the testimony in advance of the hearing. Mr. Sampson's lawyer has asked that it NOT be released, NOT be made public. This is for Judiciary senators and their staffs to prepare for the hearing and NOT to be released."

Then came the inevitable e-mail from Cohen at 6:40 p.m.: "I hear that the AP has a copy of the Sampson testimony. If you provided it to the AP or provided [it] to someone who provided it to the AP please come forward and identify yourself to me or Mike immediately." (That's Michael O'Neill, the committee's minority chief counsel.) So far, no confessions.

It turns out the first "flash" from AP came at 5:49 p.m., 7 1/2 hours after Leathers's e-mail. We are conducting a full Loop investigation as to why it took so long to leak. Anyone who deliberately sat on the testimony or gave it to someone who failed to leak it, please come forward and identify yourself.

[Lady Sara]

Slim, I have a feeling that if we made it to the airport, it wouldn't be viagara, it would be handcuffs. He is probably on the no fly list.

[SlimGuy]

Lady Sara

I am gonna say something that will tick the troll off since he has this you and PUK sensation going.

You are like a championship bass, I don't know if I should mount you or eat you.

Just saying that to tweak his meter a bit. Draw some fire if you will.

The kid surely has issues.

[SlimGuy]

Damn we need better trolls.

Sara if I offended you with the last post that is my bad.

I just get so frustrated with the small world view of the left.

Butter up and cream me so I can slide thru life without so much as a splinter in my butt.

Nice work if you can get it.

[SlimGuy]

I wish I could edit posts here to add a thought I had missed in the original post.

So view the one above her with the added line.

But that is so much contrary to reality.

Nuff said but trolls will degrade it in their own manner. Sad they feel they have to do it and discredit themselves in the process.

[PeterUK]

The Tom,Mark Garrity,Dalton troll,will keep on posting whether you address him or not.His tactic is to settle on an unmoderated blog and swamp it with inanities .

Since this depraved individual is impervious to logic,having the impregnable confidence of the utterly ignorant,doesn't argue i good faith,the only way to cleanse this infestation is to ban him.

OTHER TROLLS.

[Tom]

Old Sara,
While you're in Iraq..."sightseeing" be sure to say hello to the troops, oh and John McCain if you run into him.

Delusional.

Slim, What's with the "hate America" bullshit? What does my opionion that I don't want any Americans in Iraq have to do with such a dumb comment?

You're not real bright are you?

[Syl]

tom

You don't seem to understand: I don't think ANY Americans should be in Iraq.

There's only one reason to think that way, especially since you claim not to be a pacifist. When were you recruited, Tom? Perhaps we should put Butt on your case.

[Tom]

Rumors are swirling throughout the internet that Pelosi is requesting a hearing to discuss...IMPEACHMENT...TOMORROW!!!

At last!!!

[Syl]

Where? In Syria?

LOL

[SunnyDay]

Hilarious!

[PeterUK]

Syria,Is the Court of Princess Nancy in exile?