Feinstein: Miers Discussed Removing L.A. USAApparently I wasn’t paying close enough attention to the hearing last week, because I missed this.
From The Hill:
Former White House Counsel Harriet Miers discussed firing ex-U.S. Attorney Debra Yang, who was leading an investigation into lucrative ties between Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) and a lobbying firm before she left her government post voluntarily last fall, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) charged in a hearing last week.
Feinstein has repeatedly questioned the circumstances surrounding Yangâs departure, but until last week she provided no reasons for her suspicions. Last Thursday, however, during the questioning of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales late in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Feinstein flatly stated that Miers had discussed âwhether to remove Debra Yang from Los Angeles.â
A Feinstein spokesman indicated only that the senator had learned that Miers had considered ousting Yang âthrough interviewsâ and did not respond to repeated questions to elaborate. Andrew Koneschusky, a spokesman to Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who is leading the probe, also did not respond to questions about whether Miers had targeted Yang and any evidence Feinstein may have about it.
Yang resigned last October, months before Democrats began reviewing the Justice Departmentâs decision to fire eight other federal prosecutors. According to a report in the American Lawyer, she was lured away by a $1.5 million-plus offer to become a partner at Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher LLP, which is defending Lewis in the probe.
