Gonzales testimony contradicts White House, revealing Bush 'conversation' over US attorney firings

Michael Roston
Published: Thursday May 10, 2007
The Raw Story

Weeks after the White House ruled out the involvement of President George W. Bush in any discussions on the firing of 8 US Attorneys, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said on Thursday morning that the President had discussed the matter with advisers in an October 2006 meeting.

"I've now been made aware of the fact that there was a conversation with the President that basically mentioned the same thing in October of 2006," the Attorney General said while answering a question from Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA).

"The same thing" referred to voter fraud cases in three US Attorneys' districts, which Gonzales earlier acknowledged had been raised by Karl Rove in a meeting "sometime in the Fall of 2006."

Gonzales' statement varied from remarks by White House spokespersons that the President had not been involved in any discussions of firing US Attorneys.

"I have said on the record for several weeks now that there is no indication that the President knew about any of the ongoing discussions over the two years, nor did he see a list or a plan before it was carried out," said White House Deputy Press Secretary Dana Perino on March 27, 2006.

Furthermore, in a March 21 press briefing, White House Press Secretary Tony Snow had been asked about a Nov. 15, 2006 e-mail from former Gonzales chief of staff D. Kyle Sampson to former White House Counsel Harriet Miers asking "Who will determine whether this requires the President's attention?"

Snow was then asked "did the President have to sign off on this?" referring to the firing of the Attorneys, to which he responded, "The President has no recollection of this ever being raised with him."

A reporter later clarified, "Just to follow, did you say, again for the record, that the President has no recollection of ever being asked about any of this?"

Snow answered, "Yes, the removal – yes, that is correct."

RAW STORY was awaiting a reply from the White House at press time on whether or not they agreed that Gonzales' remark contradicted earlier White House statements.

An aide to Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA), one of the Judiciary Committee members who is leading the investigation of the firings of the Attorneys, said Gonzales' remark prompted a need for further inquiry.

"You can be sure that the Committee will look for more information on this meeting and any other interactions the White House had with DoJ on the firings," the aide told RAW STORY in an e-mail Thursday afternoon.

While the White House had not commented to RAW STORY, a March 13 press conference with White House Counselor Dan Bartlett made note of the October discussion between Gonzales and Bush.

"Over the course of several years we have received complaints about U.S. attorneys, particularly when it comes to election fraud cases -- not just New Mexico, but also Wisconsin and Pennsylvania...in a conversation he had with the Attorney General in October of 2006, in which, in a wide-ranging conversation on a lot of different issues, this briefly came up and the President said, I've been hearing about this election fraud matters from members of Congress, want to make sure you're on top of that, as well," Bartlett told reporters.

But he insisted that the firing of US Attorneys was not discussed.

"There was no directive given, as far as telling him to fire anybody or anything like that. That would be under the prerogative of the Justice Department to take a look at those issues, as they obviously were doing," he said.

However, Gonzales' remarks seemed to put the October discussion in a new light. The Attorney General linked a question about the White House seeking the firing of US Attorneys with the Bush conversation that Bartlett insisted had no 'directive' for firings.

Rep. Scott had asked the Attorney General if the White House sought the removal of any Attorneys.

"Did the White House ask you to seek the removal of any US Attorney?" the Virginia Democrat asked.

"I have recollection of Mr. Rove raising concerns about prosecutors and voter fraud cases in three districts," Gonzales answered.

He then brought up the October 2006 conversation with the President as another instance in which 'the same thing' had been discussed.