On Mar 25, 11:04 pm, merengue <meren...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> Gobierno cubano bloquea blog cr=EDtico
La fuente?...
> 26 de Marzo, 2008 - AFN / El-Nacional.com
ja ja ja ja ja ja ja ja...
Pero si en Cuba bloquean un blog que al final de cuentas seguramente
era dirigido **** la ofocina de interese de EUA en La Habana y eso a Ud
le causa emocion... Mas emocion debiera causarle el hecho que Buchito
junto al otro bandido Karl Rove despidieron a ocho fiscales federales
****que estos se negaban hacer cruzadas politicas contra los oponentes
de Buchito. Pero eso nunca le llamo la atencion a Ud, ah Mentirosa
Merengue?...
//////////////////////////////////////////
Prosecutors Fired for Not Backing Bush
Mar 28 07:14 PM US/Eastern
By LAURIE KELLMAN and LARA JAKES JORDAN
WA****NGTON (AP) - Eight federal prosecutors were fired last year
because they did not sufficiently sup****t President Bush's priorities,
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' former chief of staff says in
remarks prepared for delivery Thursday to Congress.
Separately, the Justice Department admitted Wednesday it gave senators
inaccurate information about the firings and presidential political
adviser Karl Rove's role in trying to secure a U.S. attorney's post
for one of his former aides, Tim Griffin.
In a letter accompanying new do***ents sent to the House and Senate
Judiciary committees, Justice officials acknowledged that a Feb. 23
letter to four Democratic senators erred in asserting that the
department was not aware of any role Rove played in the decision to
appoint Griffin to replace U.S. Attorney Bud ***mins in Little Rock,
Ark.
Sampson, in remarks obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press, spoke
dismissively of Democrats' condemnation of what they call political
pressure in the firings.
"The distinction between 'political' and 'performance-related' reasons
for removing a United States attorney is, in my view, largely
artificial," he said. "A U.S. attorney who is unsuccessful from a
political perspective ... is unsuccessful."
Democrats have described the firings as an "intimidation by purge" and
a warning to remaining U.S. attorneys to fall in line with Bush's
priorities. Political pressure, Democrats say, can skew the judgment
of prosecutors when deciding whom to investigate and which indictments
to pursue.
Sampson, who resigned earlier this month because of the furor over the
firings, is to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
In his prepared testimony, he maintained that adherence to the
president's and attorney general's priorities was a legitimate
standard. He strongly denied Democrats' allegations that some of the
prosecutors were dismissed for pursuing Republicans too much and
Democrats not enough in corruption cases.
"To my knowledge, nothing of the sort occurred here," he said.
The White House said it will withhold comment on Sampson's testimony
until he actually testifies.
In a letter accompanying do***ents sent to lawmakers on Wednesday,
Acting Assistant Attorney General Richard Hertling said that certain
statements in last month's letter to Democratic lawmakers appeared to
be "contradicted by department do***ents included in our production."
The Feb. 23 letter, which was written by Sampson but signed by
Hertling, emphatically stated that "the department is not aware of
Karl Rove playing any role in the decision to appoint Mr. Griffin." It
also said that "the Department of Justice is not aware of anyone
lobbying, either inside or outside of the administration, for Mr.
Griffin's appointment."
Those assertions are contradicted by e-mails from Sampson to White
House aide Christopher G. Oprison on Dec. 19, 2006, about a strategy
to deal with senators' opposition to Griffin's appointment. In the e-
mail, Sampson says there is a risk that senators might balk and repeal
the attorney general's newly won broader authority to appoint U.S.
attorneys.
"I'm not 100 percent sure that Tim was the guy on which to test drive
this authority, but know that getting him appointed was im****tant to
Harriet, Karl, etc," Sampson wrote. Former White House Counsel Harriet
Miers was among the first people to suggest Griffin as a replacement
for ***mins.
In his written testimony to the Senate committee, Sampson also refers
to the White House role in the firings, beginning with the quickly
rejected idea of replacing all 93 U.S. attorneys after the 2004
election. He said he periodically provided to the White House over two
years updated lists of U.S. attorneys whose dismissals were under
consideration.
Sampson's testimony Thursday is voluntary, though committee chairman
Patrick Leahy told re****ters he has kept a signed subpoena in case
Gonzales' chief of staff backed out.
There was no indication of that happening. In his remarks, Sampson
said he was pleased to appear and pledged to stay as long as
necessary.
Nothing will stop the investigation, Leahy said Wednesday--not even
Gonzales' resignation.
"In case anybody's thinking of shortchanging it that way, I have a
message for them: We'll finish this investigation before we'll have
any confirmation hearings for a new attorney general," said Leahy, D-
Vt. "I want to know what the facts were."
The developments reflect the fragile hold Gonzales has on his job and
the escalating tensions between Democrats in Congress and Bush over
any testimony by White House aides and do***ents related to the
firings.
Leahy indicated Gonzales' credibility had suffered from repeated
attempts to explain contradictions between his account of his
involvement in the firings and e-mails released by his department that
suggest he may have done more than sign off on them.
"You can only do, 'What I really meant to say,' three or four or five
or six times," Leahy said, half-kidding. "Then people tend not to
believe it."
Sampson said in his testimony that any inconsistencies were innocent
mistakes.
"This is a benign rather than sinister story," he said.
Gonzales has refused to resign over the firings and the Justice
Department's bungled response to questions about them from Congress.
For now, he retains Bush's sup****t--though the president has put the
onus on Gonzales for resolving lawmakers' questions.
During a multistate tour, Gonzales has acknowledged his precarious
position.
"I'm traveling a bumpy road these days," Gonzales said Wednesday
during a brief lunch speech to about 1,000 members of the Houston
Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
Meanwhile, Democrats pressed their case for Rove, Miers and their
aides to testify publicly about the firings. "We have not heard from
you," Leahy and House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers of
Michigan wrote to White House Counsel Fred Fielding.
The White House has indicated no willingness to move beyond Bush's
initial offer to let Rove, Miers and their deputies to speak to
committee members in private, without being sworn.
Conyers , meanwhile, has signed a contract with the law firm Arnold &
****ter worth up to $225,000 through the end of the year to help with
the investigation.
Republicans said the contract, which was first re****ted by The
Wa****ngton Times, was evidence that Democrats were willing to invest
taxpayer money in efforts to conduct political investigations of the
administration.
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