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White House Politicization of Federal Agencies
“In 2005, Ken Mehlman declared he wanted to create ‘The George Bush Empire.’ ‘One of the things that can happen in Washington when you work in an agency is that you forget who sent you there,’ Mehlman explained. ‘And it’s important to remind people you’re George Bush people. You work for the secretary, but you are George Bush people.’ This concept has birthed a bureaucratic partisanship that now permeates the federal government.” (Think Progress)

The Loyalty Enforcer
“The role of Monica Goodling, a former GOP ‘oppo’ researcher who became a top aide to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, is getting new scrutiny in the U.S. attorneys flap. Justice confirmed it’s investigating whether Goodling improperly assessed the political loyalties of applicants for career assistant U.S. attorney posts.” (Newsweek)

New Story for Firing Emerges
“D. Kyle Sampson, former chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, told congressional investigators that he believes he may have recommended former U.S. attorney John McKay’s removal in March 2005 because of conflicts with senior Justice officials over the investigation of the 2001 murder of federal prosecutor Tom Wales, according to congressional aides and Sampson’s attorney. The suggestion of a connection between the firing and the unsolved Wales murder case generated angry reactions from McKay and others in western Washington yesterday.” (Washington Post)

Tenet’s Version of a Crucial Pre-Iraq Episode is a Lie, Former Deputy Aide Says
“Tyler Drumheller, head of the Clandestine Service’s Europe Division when he retired in 2004, says George Tenet’s assertion in his recent best-seller that he didn’t know that a key intelligence source for the attack on Iraq was bogus is ‘a lie.’ ‘This is a defense that he and Harlow cooked up,’ Drumheller said in an interview last week, referring to Tenet and his writing assistant, former CIA spokesman Bill Harlow.” (Congressional Quarterly)

George Tenet Cashes In on Iraq
“The reported $4 million advance George Tenet received from publisher HarperCollins, should provide the former CIA director with more than enough money to live comfortably for the rest of his days and leave a substantial fortune to his children. But those monies are hardly Tenet’s entire income. While the swirl of publicity around his book has focused on his long debated role in allowing flawed intelligence to launch the war in Iraq, nobody is talking about his lucrative connection to that conflict ever since he resigned from the CIA in June 2004.” (Salon)

Judge Says NY Surveillance Data Can Be Made Public
“Six hundred pages of documents relating to intelligence that New York City gathered before the 2004 Republican National Convention should be made public, a federal judge ruled on Friday. The city had argued their publication could influence potential jurors in a larger case, yet to go trial, in which about 90 protesters who were arrested at the convention are suing the city alleging their rights were violated through mass arrests, prolonged detentions and blanket fingerprinting.” (Reuters)

Doolittle Hits Back at Feds Over Home Search
“GOP Rep. John Doolittle accused the government Sunday of leaking word of an FBI search on his home to coincide with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’ Senate testimony on the fired U.S. attorneys controversy. ‘I do not believe it was a coincidence that the leak came the day before Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before Congress on charges that his office was overly partisan in its firing of eight U.S. Attorneys,’ wrote Doolittle, ‘especially considering Gonzales specifically cited his recent prosecution of Republican members of Congress as evidence to the contrary.’ (San Diego Union-Tribune)

Doolittle: FBI Still Holding Wife’s Files
“Nearly three weeks after an FBI search of his Virginia home, U.S. Rep. John Doolittle said his wife Julie’s files are still in the hands of investigators. Doolittle said during a conference call with the media Thursday that the missing files put his wife’s Sierra Dominion Business Solutions at a disadvantage, particularly when it came a day before the deadline to submit tax-return information.” (Auburn Journal)

Many Detainees at Guantanamo Rebuff Lawyers
“Many of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, are no longer cooperating with their lawyers, adding a largely invisible struggle between the lawyers and their own clients to the legal battle over the Bush administration’s detention policies. The detainees’ resistance appears to have been fueled by frustration over their long detention and suspicion about whether their lawyers are working for the government, as well as anti-American sentiment, some of the documents and interviews show. ‘Your role is to polish Bush’s shoes and make the picture look good,’ a Yemeni detainee, Adnan Farhan Abdullatif, 31, wrote his lawyer in February.” (NY Times)

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