Loyal to Bush but Big Thorn in G.O.P. Side (James Comey)

[maddezmom]

Loyal to Bush but Big Thorn in G.O.P. Side
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By SCOTT SHANE and DAVID JOHNSTON
Published: May 17, 2007

WASHINGTON, May 16 — For a loyal George W. Bush Republican, James B. Comey has made a remarkable amount of trouble for the White House.

As deputy attorney general in 2003, he appointed his old friend Patrick J. Fitzgerald as independent counsel in the C.I.A. leak case, leading to the perjury conviction of Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby Jr.

In 2004, he backed Justice Department subordinates who withdrew a legal memorandum justifying harsh interrogations of suspected terrorists. This spring, more than a year after leaving the government, he publicly praised several United States attorneys who had been dismissed, undermining the administration’s claim that they were removed for poor performance.

Finally, at a Senate hearing on Tuesday, Mr. Comey gave a riveting account of how he intervened in 2004 at the hospital bedside of Attorney General John Ashcroft to prevent two top White House officials from persuading Mr. Ashcroft to reauthorize the National Security Agency’s domestic eavesdropping program. The Justice Department had ruled that the program would not be lawful without certain changes, and President Bush subsequently directed that the changes be made.

more:http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/17/washington/17comey.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

[maddezmom]

1. Top US officials nearly resigned over spy program

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Top US Justice Department officials threatened to resign three years ago over a domestic eavesdropping program until President George W. Bush intervened to defuse the revolt, according to a former deputy attorney general.

The attorney general at the time, John Ashcroft, FBI Director Robert Mueller and other senior Justice Department aides nearly resigned in protest against efforts in 2004 to push through a warrantless spy program over the objections of Justice Department lawyers, James Comey told a congressional panel on Tuesday.

~snip~

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070517/pl_afp/usjusticeespionagerights_070517051727;_ylt=AhtFLmx.zQrelEM2YZK5qJWQOrgF

[Boo Boo]

2. "...until President George W. Bush intervened..."

I guess that depends on what the meaning of the word "intervened" is. If, by "intervened," they mean that President Bush "backed down," then yeah, he "intervened."

:eyes: