BREAKING: McNulty is to resign (Deputy AG)

[doxieone]

Source: CNN

No link yet.

He is the second ranking official in the Justice Dept.

UPDATE: REsign in the fall.

http://www.wtopnews.com/index.php?nid=116&sid=1140579

WASHINGTON (AP) - Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty said Monday he will resign, the highest-ranking Bush administration casualty in the furor over the firing of U.S. attorneys, The Associated Press has learned.

McNulty, who has served 18 months as the Justice Department's second-in-command, announced his plans at a closed-door meeting of U.S. attorneys in San Antonio, according to two senior department aides. He said he will remain at the department until this fall or until the Senate approves a successor, the aides said.

McNulty could not be immediately reached for comment Monday. Justice aides said he has been considering leaving for months and never intended to serve more than two years as deputy attorney general.

snip


Read more: http://www.wtopnews.com/index.php?nid=116&sid=1140579

[Nickster]

1. WOW! YAY! When's Gonzo going? n/tt

[Tesla]

7. He'll never leave

[hootinholler]

25. He'll leave shortly after the US Congressional Sargent At Arms arrives

With the contempt of Congress paperwork.

-Hoot

[dave29]

2. Just saw this on CNN

no news on why yet. But confirmed.

[notadmblnd]

60. It could have something to do with Comey's testimony today?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x890719

[Catherine Vincent]

3. Is he the DOJ official that was on the DC Madam list?

[Vinca]

4. The sacrificial lamb - or so they hope. nt

[MADem]

5. I think you got that right. Let's hope they're wrong, too! nt

[va4wilderness]

17. Meanwhile.... "yer doin' a heckuva job" Gonzales n/t

[ourvoicescount]

58. Here here. Do we have to wait that long...

[Monkeyman]

6. Saw It Too opps Bush Backing your man is not working

[pnwmom]

8. Now how will Bush stop him from responding to a subpoena?

Now that he's not an employee anymore.

[guitar man]

28. If I were him

I'd buy some body armor and check my food before I ate it.

[liberal N proud]

9. Can he Gonzo be far behind?

[johncoby2]

10. He wants to spend more time with his family....................

before he goes to jail.

[MADem]

11. It sure makes the context of this report kind of interesting, dunnit?

http://www.startribune.com/562/v-print/story/1164109.html

Already, the Senate is outlining conditions for confirming a Gonzales successor. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., head of the Judiciary Committee, said that his panel wouldn't hold confirmation hearings unless Karl Rove and other White House aides testify about the firing of U.S. attorneys...All this is reminiscent of the Watergate scandal. In 1973, as the coverup was unraveling, the Senate imposed a condition on the confirmation of President Richard Nixon's nominee for attorney general, Elliot Richardson. Richardson's predecessor had resigned because of Watergate troubles. Concerned that the Justice Department would not get at the truth, the Senate insisted that Richardson would name a special prosecutor to investigate Watergate. Richardson duly appointed Archibald Cox.

The rest is history. Cox's aggressive investigations led to the prosecution of top administration officials and the naming of Nixon as an unindicted co-conspirator in the coverup. When Cox sought White House tapes of Nixon's conversations with his staff, the president had him fired, unleashing a firestorm of protests. Americans demanded that a previously reluctant Congress start impeachment proceedings against Nixon....Aspects of this history could easily repeat themselves. The Senate could demand, as it did in 1973, that a new attorney general appoint a special prosecutor, and this could again have dire consequences for the White House.

A new special prosecutor would have many questions to investigate.

Were any of the firings of U.S. attorneys federal crimes -- such as obstruction of justice, designed to stymie investigations or to retaliate for prosecutions of Republicans? If so, who is responsible and how high up does that responsibility go? Did Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, who gave inaccurate testimony to Congress about the firings, commit any crime in doing so? Were those who briefed him complicit?

And what happened to the missing e-mail messages from Rove and others? Did these apparent violations of the Presidential Records Act constitute federal crimes?

There is ample work for a special prosecutor. The Senate could call for appointing one without waiting for Gonzales to resign. But in that case, Gonzales or McNulty would be making the appointment, and the integrity of the choice would be highly questionable.

[Ian David]

12. He's probably headed to the Bush Survivalist Camp in Paraguay with a box of Ensure...

to wait for The Apocalypse along with the rest who resigned "to spend more time with their families."

[Gregorian]

13. WILL resign. He's staying until Fall, or so he says.

But this must be the noose tightening on them. Fallout.

[Stinky The Clown]

14. MSNBC reporting the same

[POAS]

15. A LINK

http://www.wtopnews.com/index.php?nid=116&sid=1140579

[Kool Kitty]

16. So basically, all the underlings are fleeing.

And Gonzo's still there. Incredible.

[POAS]

18. Is this Friday news dump early or late???

Geez I thought at least they got this Friday bad news dump thing down pat!

[Demeter]

21. It's the Monday Night News Dump, To Be Followed By The Tuesday Night Dump

with a Wednesday Nigth Dump and a Thursday Night Dump. That way, they get a 3 day weekend!

[Botany]

19. Really?

:rofl:

[stlsaxman]

20. He's waiting for the Senate to approve his successor?!?!?

What a snub to Gonzo! Cool!

Sounds like he has a shred of integrity.

[xchrom]

22. goody -- now maybe they can

subpoena him again. -- well -- after he resigns.

[Connie_Corleone]

23. You would think Gonzales would be next.

But, I won't hold my breath.

[peaches2003]

24. Gonzo going nowhere

Gonzo won't resign and Bush won't fire him. Doesn't matter what Congress does. No one can make him go. One thing no one ever asks about any of these Bush appointees- wouldn't you think Bush would be embarrassed about how incompetent they are and that he appointed them?

[Warren DeMontague]

27. He hired them from Pat Robertson's fucking Law School.

Seems to me like Incompetence was one of the traits they were LOOKING for.

[Warren DeMontague]

26. Gee, whiz. How does this Gel with the M$M gushing last week about how Gonzo had

"Weathered the Storm"???

:eyes:

[Gman]

29. This fall?? In other words

he'll hang out for a while and see if things cool off some.

[WI_DEM]

30. Gonzales should resign as well.

[blogslut]

31. This is huge

I'm serious

NOTE: Spelled correctly because this really is huge and I am serious.

[curiousdemo]

32. More Losers leaving the sinking ship......

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[L. Coyote]

33. The McNULTY MEMO and what does it do? = Tone Down Corporate Fraud Prosecutions

New DOJ Guidelines Tone Down Corporate Fraud Prosecutions
http://www.itbusinessedge.com/item/?ci=22930

Question: What is the McNulty Memo, and what does it do?

Cellini: On Dec. 12, 2006, Paul McNulty, the incumbent Deputy Attorney General, issued a revised memorandum to prosecutors outlining the factors they should consider when deciding to charge corporate entities with wrongdoing. This memorandum replaces the Thompson Memo and will inevitably come to be known as the McNulty Memo.

The McNulty Memo chooses sides in the war between the factor that rewards companies for establishing effective internal compliance programs and the factor that punishes companies for failing to voluntarily disclose adverse information turned up by those very same programs. Specifically, the McNulty Memo dramatically limits the circumstances under which it will require corporations to waive the attorney/client privilege. In other words, the Justice Department has made a choice and has come down on the side of encouraging companies to establish compliance programs (even at the expense of giving up its power to force companies to disclose unfavorable information uncovered by those programs). ....

Of course, corporate entities are abstract entities that cannot be jailed. However, if convicted, they can be fined heavily and barred from doing business with the government. .... As a practical matter, indictment is often tantamount to a death sentence for a corporate entity.......

===========================
Statement of Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales on the
Resignation of Deputy Attorney General Paul J. Mcnulty
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2007/May/07_ag_357.html

"He has also been the principal driver of the Department’s policies and efforts to prevent corporate fraud and stop those who seek to defraud the taxpayers through fraudulent procurement practices...."

============================
MORE: 30 U.S. attorneys investigate BILKING BILLIONS, Medicare, Medicaid, Military’s Healthcare
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x877011

[antiimperialist]

34. Bah...this is not important. Here's what matters: another blonde white girl missing

http://www.cnn.com/

[seafan]

35. More background on McNulty

...now that he announced his resignation today as #2 at DOJ.


Capital Law School Alumnus Paul McNulty Prosecutor in Terrorism Cases

Feb. 8, 2002

One of Capital University Law School's own alumni is on the front lines of prosecuting terrorist acts. U.S. Attorney Paul McNulty, a 1983 graduate of Capital Law School, is overseeing the prosecutions of alleged Taliban member John Walker Lindh and Zacarias Moussaoui, the first person to face U.S. criminal charges in the September 11th terrorist attacks.

McNulty has more than 16 years of government experience. He served as chief counsel to the House Subcommittee on Crime during the time the subcommittee was conducting hearings on the federal raid at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas. He was chief counsel to House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-TX). McNulty also has worked for the U.S. Department of Justice as chief spokesman under President George H.W. Bush. Last year, he headed the current President Bush's transition team and prepared Senator John Ashcroft for his Senate confirmation hearings as nominee for Attorney General.

McNulty, who was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and grew up in Whitehall, PA, graduated from Grove City College in 1980. He then went on to receive his Juris Doctor from Capital University Law School in 1983. On September 13, 2001, he was confirmed U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.

http://www.law.capital.edu/News/Archive/2002/mcnulty.asp

[rucky]

36. He's pulling a Libby.

Gonzo is safe now.

[jazzjunkysue]

37. Soon as the Dems take over: Everyone on their side quits. Interesting.

It's only fun until someone gets hurt.

[Lint Head]

38. The perfect storm is slowly building.

:dem:

[L. Coyote]

39. Deputy Attorney General McNulty Resigns

Source: Washington Post, AP, By LARA JAKES JORDAN

WASHINGTON -- Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty said Monday he will resign, the highest-ranking Bush administration casualty in the furor over the firing of U.S. attorneys, The Associated Press has learned.

McNulty, who has served 18 months as the Justice Department's second-in-command, announced his plans at a closed-door meeting of U.S. attorneys in San Antonio, ..

McNulty also served more than four years as the U.S. attorney in suburban Alexandria, Va., a position he took three days after the Sept. 11, 2001,

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/14/AR2007051401064.html

---

Flubadubya Mon May-14-07 03:25 PM
McNulty RESIGNS... http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x884070

Breaking on CNN now.

[Connie_Corleone]

40. Already posted in Breaking News

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2845336

[L. Coyote]

41. WA POST broke the story, not?

[Connie_Corleone]

43. There's already a thread going on this in this forum.

It was posted at 5:26pm ET.

[L. Coyote]

42. REUTERS: Gonzales deputy resigns from Justice Department

Gonzales deputy resigns from Justice Department
Mon May 14, 2007 5:49PM EDT
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN1434051620070514

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, caught in the firestorm over the firing of federal prosecutors, resigned on Monday from the Justice Department, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said.

In a statement, Gonzales hailed McNulty's more than eight-year tenure at the department but did not mention the scandal that has forced calls for Gonzales' own resignation.

"The Department of Justice will be losing a dynamic and thoughtful leader with the departure of Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty," the attorney general said.

McNulty testified on Capitol Hill in February that only the federal prosecutor in Arkansas was let go for political reasons, with the other eight fired last year just for performance-related issues. ...............

[L. Coyote]

44. Statement of Deputy Attorney General Paul J. Mcnulty to the Senate

JUDICIARY: February 6, 2007 - Written Statement of Deputy Attorney General Paul J. Mcnulty ... on Appointments and Resignations of U.S. Attorneys
http://www.usdoj.gov/dag/testimony/2007/dag_testimony_070206_1.htm

Chairman Leahy, Senator Specter, and members of the Committee, thank you for the invitation to discuss the importance of the Justice Department’s United States Attorneys. As a former United States Attorney, I particularly appreciate this opportunity to address the critical role U.S. Attorneys play in enforcing our Nation’s laws and carrying out the priorities of the Department of Justice.

I have often said that being a United States Attorney is one of the greatest jobs you can ever have. It is a privilege and a challenge—one that carries a great responsibility. As former Attorney General Griffin Bell said, U.S. Attorneys are “the front-line troops charged with carrying out the Executive’s constitutional mandate to execute faithfully the laws in every federal judicial district.” As the chief federal law-enforcement officers in their districts, U.S. Attorneys represent the Attorney General ..........

[L. Coyote]

45. THE HILL: Gonzales’ second-in-command resigns. = Schumer, "still falls short"

Gonzales’ second-in-command resigns
By Jeremy Jacobs - May 14, 2007
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/gonzales-second-in-command-resigns-2007-05-14.html

Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty will leave his post, the Department of Justice (DoJ) said Monday. McNulty is the highest ranking DoJ official involved in the controversial firings of eight U.S. attorneys to resign. ....

....Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said McNulty’s resignation still falls short.

“It seems ironic that Paul McNulty who at least tried to level with the committee goes while Gonzales who stonewalled the committee is still in charge,” Schumer said. “This administration owes us a lot better.”

[L. Coyote]

46. Why Bush won't want to replace Gonzales . Did McNulty "commit any crime"

Elizabeth Holtzman: Why Bush won't want to replace Gonzales
http://www.startribune.com/562/story/1164109.html

Consider what happened when Richard Nixon nominated a successor to his attorney general.

No matter how many members of Congress lose confidence in Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, President Bush is unlikely to let him go. If Gonzales resigns, the vacancy must be filled by a new presidential nominee, and the last thing the White House wants is a confirmation hearing.

Already, the Senate is outlining conditions for confirming a Gonzales successor. .....

All this is reminiscent of the Watergate scandal. In 1973, as the coverup was unraveling, the Senate imposed a condition on the confirmation of President Richard Nixon's nominee for attorney general, Elliot Richardson.........

The Senate could demand, as it did in 1973, that a new attorney general appoint a special prosecutor, and this could again have dire consequences for the White House.

A new special prosecutor would have many questions to investigate.

Were any of the firings of U.S. attorneys federal crimes -- such as obstruction of justice, designed to stymie investigations or to retaliate for prosecutions of Republicans? If so, who is responsible and how high up does that responsibility go? Did Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, who gave inaccurate testimony to Congress about the firings, commit any crime in doing so? Were those who briefed him complicit?

[L. Coyote]

47. By Dan Eggen: Paul McNulty Resigns "to enter the private sector"

Paul McNulty Resigns
By Dan Eggen - Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, May 14, 2007; 5:32 PM
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MmEyMTM3MWIyYjE1MDA2NGIyYjExYTk4ZWZjN2IzZTU=


Deputy Attorney General Paul J. McNulty announced his resignation today, saying he is leaving the Justice Department later this summer to enter the private sector, officials said.

McNulty announced his plans to leave in a letter to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, citing the financial pressures of having children entering their college years, one official said.

McNulty is the latest senior Justice official to announce his departure amid the swirl of controversy over the firings last year of nine U.S. attorneys. Three other top aides to Gonzales have quit in recent months. ........

[L. Coyote]

48. Statement of Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales

Statement of Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales on the
Resignation of Deputy Attorney General Paul J. Mcnulty
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2007/May/07_ag_357.html

The Department of Justice will be losing a dynamic and thoughtful leader with the departure of Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty. Paul announced today that he would leave the Department later this summer after more than eight years of service.

In his position as Deputy Attorney General, for which he was confirmed in March 2006 and served in an acting capacity since November 2005, Paul has been an effective manager of day-to-day operations. He has also been the principal driver of the Department’s policies and efforts to prevent corporate fraud and stop those who seek to defraud the taxpayers through fraudulent procurement practices. In addition, he has made significant contributions to establishing the rule of law in Iraq. Before serving as Deputy, Paul was U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, where he successfully prosecuted some of our Nation's highest profile cases in the War on Terror. From 1990-1993, he served in the Department as the director of the Office of Policy and Communications under Attorney General William P. Barr.

Paul’s long career in public service includes his work for the U.S. Congress and the Commonwealth of Virginia, and there can be no doubt that the Nation has benefited from his selfless dedication to good government.

Paul is an outstanding public servant and a fine attorney who has been valued here at the Department, by me and so many others, as both a colleague and a friend. He will be missed. On behalf of the Department, I wish him well in his future endeavors.

[L. Coyote]

49. Who's Who in the U.S. Attorneys Case

Who's Who in the U.S. Attorneys Case
http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-keyplayers0703-26.html

Documents provided to Congress show that senior White House and Justice Department aides carefully planned the dismissals of eight U.S. Attorneys while seeking to contain any political damage. Read more. Here, see profiles of top Bush administration officials and the ousted prosecutors involved the controversy.

Paul McNulty

Paul McNulty, the Deputy Attorney General since March 2006, announced his resignation on May 14, the highest-ranking Bush administration official to leave his post over the firings of U.S. attorneys. Mr. McNulty testified before the Senate on Feb. 6 that Bud Cummins was fired for "no cause," but the other seven ousted prosecutors were dismissed for performance-related reasons. Emails released by the Justice Department show Mr. McNulty had doubts about the firing of at least one of the other attorneys -- U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden in Nevada. His testimony rankled others in Justice, who say that it was his testimony that began the fallout for the department. .....

[L. Coyote]

50. The President and his LeadershipTeam PAUL McNULTY

http://www.whitehouse.gov/results/leadership/bio_900.html

Paul McNulty -- Department of Justice
Deputy Attorney General

Paul J. McNulty was sworn in as Deputy Attorney General of the United States on March 17, 2006. Prior to his confirmation by the Senate, Mr. McNulty had served as Acting Deputy Attorney General since November 1, 2005. Mr. McNulty has spent nearly his entire career in public service, with more than two decades of experience in federal and state government. From September 14, 2001, to March 17, 2006, Mr. McNulty served as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. Under Mr. McNulty's leadership, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Eastern Virginia grew more than 20 percent,.....

Before becoming U.S. Attorney, Mr. McNulty directed President Bush's transition team for the Department of Justice and then served as Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General. In the prior Bush Administration, Mr. McNulty was the Justice Department's director of policy and its chief spokesman. Mr. McNulty has over 12 years of experience in the United States Congress. He was Chief Counsel and Director of Legislative Operations for the Majority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives. He was also Chief Counsel to the House Subcommittee on Crime where he served for eight years. During those years he was a principal draftsman of many anti-terrorism, drug control, firearms and anti-fraud statutes............

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

51. So McNulty resigns...

... where is Negroponte positioned?

[L. Coyote]

52. Three Fired USAs on C-SPAN 2 tonight at 9:30. McKay, et.al.

check your local schedules.

[L. Coyote]

53. The McNULTY MEMO and what does it do? = Tone Down Corporate Fraud Prosecutions

New DOJ Guidelines Tone Down Corporate Fraud Prosecutions
http://www.itbusinessedge.com/item/?ci=22930

Question: What is the McNulty Memo, and what does it do?

Cellini: On Dec. 12, 2006, Paul McNulty, the incumbent Deputy Attorney General, issued a revised memorandum to prosecutors outlining the factors they should consider when deciding to charge corporate entities with wrongdoing. This memorandum replaces the Thompson Memo and will inevitably come to be known as the McNulty Memo.

The McNulty Memo chooses sides in the war between the factor that rewards companies for establishing effective internal compliance programs and the factor that punishes companies for failing to voluntarily disclose adverse information turned up by those very same programs. Specifically, the McNulty Memo dramatically limits the circumstances under which it will require corporations to waive the attorney/client privilege. In other words, the Justice Department has made a choice and has come down on the side of encouraging companies to establish compliance programs (even at the expense of giving up its power to force companies to disclose unfavorable information uncovered by those programs). ....

Of course, corporate entities are abstract entities that cannot be jailed. However, if convicted, they can be fined heavily and barred from doing business with the government. .... As a practical matter, indictment is often tantamount to a death sentence for a corporate entity.......

===========================
Statement of Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales on the
Resignation of Deputy Attorney General Paul J. Mcnulty
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2007/May/07_ag_357.html

"He has also been the principal driver of the Department’s policies and efforts to prevent corporate fraud and stop those who seek to defraud the taxpayers through fraudulent procurement practices...."

============================
MORE: 30 U.S. attorneys investigate BILKING BILLIONS, Medicare, Medicaid, Military’s Healthcare
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x877011

[L. Coyote]

57. X-Post: DU discussion here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3264391

USA Firings Timeline: Centralization of authority follows the firings.

McKay's "chilling effect" may have been intended with the firings, given that
just a week later McNulty centralized the corporate fraud prosecution authority.

McNULTY: USAs, Prosecutors MUST seek approval from senior DoJ officials for corporate fraud decisions

ADD TO TIMELINE right after the firings:
Dec. 7, 2006 - Michael Battle, director of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, calls seven U.S. Attorneys to ask for their resignations.
Dec. 13, 2006 - McNulty curbs USAs', Prosecutors' powers, centralizing decisions at highest levels w/ immediate changes to corporate-fraud charging policies

This lends some credence to the possible relationship of Sampson's e-mail to the same issue, corporate fraud prosecution.

May 10, 2006 - USA Carol Lam's Litigation: Health and Human Services Seeks to Bar Medicare and Medicade Payments to Nation's #2 Hospital chain.
May 11, 2006 - Kyle Sampson e-mails deputy White House counsel William Kelley, re "the real problem we have right now with Carol Lam ....

Timelines are important forensic tools!
So is analysis of corporate/lobbyist/political contribution relationships in the timeline context.

[L. Coyote]

54. Paul had worked as a Counsel to the House Judiciary Committee

SENATOR WARNER'S STATEMENT TO THE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
ON THE NOMINATION OF PAUL MCNULTY
TO SERVE AS DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES
FEBRUARY 2, 2006
http://www.senate.gov/~warner/pressoffice/statements/20060202.htm

Paul had worked as a Counsel to the House Judiciary Committee for a number of years, had served on the board of the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services, had worked in private practice, and had previous experience in the U.S. Department of Justice, including experience as the DOJ’s Director and Chief Spokesman for the Office of Policy and Communication in President George H. W. Bush’s Administration.

Based on his strong qualifications, Senator Allen and I agreed to recommend Paul McNulty to President Bush to serve as the U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia.

.......prosecuted some of the most complex legal cases of our day. Whether it was prosecuting the American Taliban, John Walker Lindh, or prosecuting Zacarias Moussaoui, the first person to face criminal charges in the 9/11 attacks, how fortunate we have been to have had Paul leading the way. ....

As we all know, the Deputy Attorney General is second in charge at the Department of Justice. And, as the second in charge, the Deputy plays an indispensable role in advising the Attorney General and helping him implement Department of Justice policies. While always a challenging task, this position has taken on added importance since September 11th, as this country has faced, and will continue to face, new legal frontiers in the war on terror..................

[L. Coyote]

55. Statement Sen. Patrick Leahy, On Nomination Of Paul McNulty Feb. 2, 2006

Statement On Senator Patrick Leahy,
Ranking Member, Committee On The Judiciary,
On Nomination Of Paul McNulty
To Be Deputy Attorney General
February 2, 2006

The Committee today will consider the nomination of Paul McNulty to the position of Deputy Attorney General. The Deputy Attorney General is the number two position at the Department of Justice, and in the absence of the Attorney General, the Deputy acts as the Attorney General.

The previous Deputies, including James Comey and his predecessor Larry Thompson, have had extensive experience as prosecutors. When the President nominated Tim Flanigan to this position, I and other senators raised questions about his lack of prosecutorial experience. It was of particular concern given that none of the top officials at the Department had experience prosecuting criminal cases. I noted that neither the current Attorney General, nor the Associate Attorney General, nor the Assistant Attorney General chosen to head the Criminal Division, nor even the Solicitor General brought that vital experience to the Department.

The President eventually withdrew Mr. Flanigan’s nomination. Questions still remain about the circumstances of that nomination. I joined Senator Durbin in a letter just yesterday to the Attorney General about the role that Mr. Flanigan’s dealings with Jack Abramoff and David Safavian played in that action. I look forward to thoroughly responsive answers to that letter.

With respect to prosecutorial experience, Mr. McNulty comes to us as the Acting Deputy Attorney General and U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, so he has had some supervisory experience with criminal matters. Being a U.S. Attorney is not like being a district attorney or local prosecutor, however, and I am not sure how many cases Mr. McNulty has personally prosecuted. As the Deputy Attorney General, prosecutorial experience and prosecutorial judgment will be sorely needed and tested in this Justice Department. He is overseeing delicate investigative and prosecutorial decisions. Situations will arise where prosecutorial experience will be beneficial and may be critical, especially given the lack of other experience in the top ranks of the Department.

This points to the bigger issue. We are faced with a President who holds an extreme and expansive view of his power. Within the Executive branch, the Department of Justice serves as an important check on Presidential power, corruption and illegality. The Justice Department must make independent decisions about sensitive criminal prosecutions and must often tell the rest of the Federal Government, including the White House, what it may and may not legally do.

The most recent Deputy Attorney General, James Comey, a respected prosecutor and a long-time Republican, seemed to many of us to have taken this responsibility seriously. He appointed a committed, independent prosecutor to investigate potentially serious wrongdoing within the Bush Administration. According to recent press reports,

Mr. Comey questioned the President’s authority to conduct warrantless wiretapping and defended career attorneys who sought to put the brakes on over-expansive assertions of Executive power. It seemed to many of us and now appears from recent press accounts, that for his trouble, for refusing to be a “yes man,” Mr. Comey was apparently drummed out of the Department of Justice. The Department of Justice should not be made up of “yes men.” It needs to enforce the law and make sure that the law, including the laws that Congress enacts to protect the liberties and rights of ordinary Americans, are faithfully executed.

I voted against confirmation of the current Attorney General because I did not believe that he would act independently of the White House and serve the proper role of the Attorney General of the United States. Attorney General Gonzales has been a loyal friend and representative of the President and, regrettably in my view, he has continued to act like the President’s in-house counsel. During the debate of his nomination one year ago, I noted the importance of having an Attorney General who would act as a check against presidential overreaching:

“Ultimately, the Attorney General’s duty is to uphold the Constitution and the rule of law—not labor to circumvent it. Both the President and the nation are best served by an Attorney General who gives sound legal advice and takes responsible action, without regard to political considerations—not who develops legalistic loopholes to serve the ends of a particular President or Administration.”

Those words hold just as true for the important position of Deputy Attorney General. At the time, I did not know how right I would turn out to be. The recent revelation that the Bush Administration has been conducting illegal spying on Americans for more than four years, while Mr. Gonzales served as White House Counsel and Attorney General, is the most serious of a series of wrongheaded legal rationalizations for illegal conduct that include the scandal of Abu Ghraib and the withdrawn torture memo, the extraordinary rendition and black site prisons in the former Soviet Union, and the Supreme Court having to reign in this President and remind him that even war time “is not a blank check for the President when it comes to the rights of the Nation’s citizens.”

Mr. McNulty has had a number of important Republican political jobs. I first met him when he was serving as staff for Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee. He is someone I like personally. Whether he will be able to follow Mr. Comey’s example of independence and the examples of other Republicans like Elliot Richardson and William Ruckelshaus, who resigned or were fired rather than interfere with the investigation of wrongdoing of the Nixon Administration, is a critical question.

The Eastern District of Virginia, under Mr. McNulty, has been the “go-to” district for the Bush Administration for terrorism prosecutions, national security issues, and detainee abuse allegations. His work on these issues needs to be explored and explained. We need to understand how much he will be willing to question extreme assertions of Presidential power and to look out for the individual liberties of ordinary Americans and protect the rule of law.

According to a recent letter from the Department of Justice to Senator Durbin, since the beginning of the war on Afghanistan in 2001, 20 allegations of detainee abuse by American civilians have been referred to the Department of Justice, and all but one of these cases, have been assigned to a task force in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, under Mr. McNulty’s supervision. To date, only one of these allegations – the one that was not referred to his office – has resulted in an indictment.

These are instances of serious misconduct that have hurt American credibility in the world, potentially increased the risk to our troops abroad and undermined our ability to combat the threat of terrorism. Press reports say that these referrals include one case in which a detainee was killed in CIA custody within 45 minutes of the beginning of the interrogation and in that case the CIA’s own Inspector General found the “possibility of criminality.” It has been 18 months since former Attorney General Ashcroft announced the creation of the taskforce in Mr. McNulty’s office to investigate these cases. We need to understand why, when the military has prosecuted detainee abuse cases and the Eastern District of North Carolina has returned the one civilian indictment thus far handed down for this type of conduct, Mr. McNulty’s task force has not yet acted.

Finally, it will be important to find out what he knew and when about the President’s warrantless domestic spying program and what he has done to make sure that the Government is not violating the law. We need to get to the bottom of this and understand how Mr. McNulty responded to these important issues.

I support aggressive action to protect against terrorism. I helped write and pass the USA PATRIOT Act. I am working hard to pass its reauthorization. But it is also important that the Department do its utmost to protect individual liberties and to make sure that the Government acts legally. I hope that Mr. McNulty can reassure us on these matters.

I welcome Mr. McNulty to the Committee today, and I hope that he will provide the Members of this Committee with candid responses and the information this Committee needs to conduct necessary oversight.

# # # # #

[L. Coyote]

56. McNULTY: USAs, Prosecutors required to seek approval from senior DoJ officials

McNulty overthrew the powers of all USAs and Federal Prosecutors with regard to corporate fraud a few days after the firings.

May 10, 2006 - HHS Seeks to Knock Out San Diego Hospital
May 11, 2006 - Kyle Sampson e-mails deputy White House counsel William Kelley, re "the real problem we have right now with Carol Lam ....
May 11, 2006 - LA Times reports Cunningham probe expanded to include CA Republican, then-House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jerry Lewis.
May 12, 2006 - FBI agents seizes records from Foggo's CIA offices and his suburban Vienna, Va.
May 17, 2006 - Tenet Healthcare Agrees to Divest Alvarado Hospital
May 18, 2006 - Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) provides false information to AP that Lam has prosecuted only 6% of 289 suspected immigrant smugglers.
Dec. 7, 2006 - Michael Battle, director of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, calls seven U.S. Attorneys to ask for their resignations.
Dec. 13, 2006 - McNulty curbs USAs, Prosecutor powers, centralized decision at highest levels, quashes independent corporate fraud decision making.

==============================
DOJ Revises Corporate Fraud Procedures
Jason McLure - Legal Times - December 13, 2006
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1165917921963


Bending to pressure from Congress, a federal judge and a lobbying campaign by business and legal groups, the Justice Department announced a number of immediate changes to its corporate-fraud charging policies Tuesday.
.......
The changes, announced in a Tuesday speech by Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty at a legal conference in New York, are a step back from the government's aggressive anti-fraud prosecution tactics outlined in the so-called Thompson memo, named for former Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson, in 2003.

In the speech, McNulty said the new guidelines were designed to address the "perception, well founded -- or not," that the Justice Department's policies were "chilling attorney-client communications" and hurting the effectiveness of corporate lawyers ...................

For certain types of sensitive attorney-client information, such as the advice a defense attorney gave to the management of a corporation facing a fraud investigation, prosecutors are now required to obtain the approval of the Justice Department's No. 2 official in Washington -- currently McNulty.

For privileged factual material a company has obtained through an internal investigation into an alleged fraud, such as transcripts of interviews with culpable employees, prosecutors will need to obtain the approval of the local U.S. Attorney in their district, who can only sign off on such a request with the approval of the head of the DOJ's Criminal Division in Washington, currently Alice Fisher.

Previously, prosecutors had wide latitude to issue such requests on their own ....

[L. Coyote]

59. Greg Palast. The e-mail CATCH and the USA Firings?? Is McNulty implicated?

Hissyspit Mon May-14-07 11:09 AM
Jason Gooljar: The Rove Emails That Palast Has...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x882369

.... Greg Palast on Democracy Now! talking about how Karl Rove’s lackeys totally screwed up when they were sending emails about firing US Attorney’s for not being Republican Party and Karl Rove friendly....

There has been a lot of talk about the Civil Rights Act violations aspect of the e-mails, the caging lists. That is, it seems, numero uno in the felonious sense in the georgewbush.org e-mail catch.

I did not hear the Democracy Now show, but this hints of some of the e-mails being related to the USA firings. I this why #2 at DoJ resigned????

One has to wonder how many loyal Bushies are sweating their underpants off :rofl: wondering which of their e-mails Palast has, especially if they erased evidence without checking for mistaken dotorgers amidst their GWB dotcomers.