Marcy Wheeler: Cheney Got The Keys To DOJ... But Did Rove?

[Hissyspit]

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/07/cheney-got-the-.html

Cheney Got the Keys to DOJ ... But Did Rove?
by emptywheel

One more detail about the Ashcroft and Gonzales guidelines on contacts between DOJ and the White House. While the latter explicitly gives Cheney the authority to communicate with DOJ about ongoing cases, I don't believe it gives Karl Rove--or any of the people who work in Office of Political Affairs save its head--that authority. When the more expansive Gonzales memo lays out whom the AG and his staff may communicate with, it says:

Notwithstanding any procedures or limitations set forth above, the Attorney General may communicate directly with the President, Vice President, their Chiefs of Staff, Counsel to the President or Vice President, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, Assistant to the President and Homeland Security Advisor, or the head of any office within EOP regarding any matter within the jurisdiction of the Department of Justice. Staff members of the Office of the Attorney General, if so designated by the Attorney General, may communicate directly with officials and staff of the White House Office, the Office of the Vice President, the National Security Council, the Homeland Security Council, and the Office of Management and Budget.

Now, Karl Rove is Senior Advisor to the President and I think he retains the title Deputy Chief of Staff, but he lost his Policy portfolio in April 2006, when Josh Bolten was named Chief of Staff. He has headed Political Affairs, Office of Public Liaison, and Office of Strategic Initiatives. As the head of these offices ("head of any office," he presumably could interact with the Attorney General if the AG initiated the communication. But he doesn't serve in that role anymore, and the Deputy Chief of Staff (unlike the Chief of Staff) is not named among those the AG can choose to communicate with. Nor does Karl fall under the subordinate offices (NSC, HSC, OMB) with which AG staff members can communicate. And Karl certainly doesn't fall under the list of people who can communicate about an ongoing criminal investigation.

...all initial communications that concern or may concern such an investigation or case pending at the trial level should take place only between the Office of the Counsel to the President and the Office of the Deputy Attorney General (ODAG)...

- snip -

Now all this goddledygook (assuming I've read it correctly) is only interesting for one reason. Much of the communication regarding the USA firings went through the White House Counsel's office, as did discussions about the Washington State voter fraud case that John McKay refused to take. But not all of it. In particular, Karl and Scott Jennings were known to be closely involved in the Iglesias firing, where they took complaints from New Mexico Republicans and passed them on to Alberto Gonzales.

But here's the thing: those discussions all narrowly skirted the issue of the Manny Aragon investigation and the voter fraud cases Iglesias didn't file. That is, New Mexico Republicans raised concerns about specific investigations with Karl, and he passed on those complaints to DOJ in some form.

MORE

[mod mom]

1. If DoJ and WH should be seperate, then Rove shouldn't be point man for U.S. Attorneys

Here we see a prosecutor who claimed no one worked harder for the Bush Campaign, go to rove to seek a USA position, which he got:

FROM THE SUNDAY ISSUE OF COLUMBUS DISPATCH:


When Greg White wanted the job of U.S. attorney in Cleveland five years ago, he delivered his pitch to just about any Republican who mattered in Ohio.

"I talked to the governor at the Lorain County Fair today," White e-mailed Brian K. Hicks, chief of staff to then-Gov. Bob Taft. "Do you think that the governor would be willing to call the president on this issue? ... Is there anything else we can do?"

The longtime Lorain County prosecutor also expressed frustration to Hicks about the process and declared, "I doubt there are too many county chairs for the Bush campaign that worked harder."

Hicks told White in another e-mail that he and Ohio GOP Chairman Robert T. Bennett had talked to top presidential adviser Karl Rove: "I think we made a strong and compelling case for you, but we need to keep pushing."

-snip
http://www.columbusdispatch.com/dispatch/content/local_news/stories/2007/07/22/usatty.html


Seems like Mr White would owe rove a favor.