ETHICS -- FORMER CLINTON CHIEF OF STAFF REBUTS ROVE CLAIM THAT CLINTON PURGED PROSECUTORS TOO: At a speech in Little Rock yesterday, Karl Rove described the Bush administration's purge of federal prosecutors as "normal and ordinary," claiming that Clinton did the same thing. "Clinton, when he came in, replaced all 93 U.S. attorneys," Rove said. "When we came in, we ultimately replace most all 93 U.S. attorneys -- there are some still left from the Clinton era in place." Clinton's former chief of staff John Podesta told The Progress Report that Rove's claim is "pure fiction." "Replacing most U.S. attorneys when a new administration comes in -- as we did in 1993 and the Bush administration did in 2001 -- is not unusual. But the Clinton administration never fired federal prosecutors as pure political retribution," he said. Earlier this week, Mary Jo White, who was U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York from 1993-2002, also stated that the Bush administration's prosecutor purge is unprecedented in "modern history." She told NPR, "[T]hroughout modern history, my understanding is, you did not change the U.S. attorney during an administration, unless there was some evidence of misconduct or other really quite significant cause to do so. And the expectation was, so long as that was absent, that you would serve out your full four years or eight years as U.S. attorney." As White noted, attorneys need to serve "without fear or favor and in an absolutely apolitical way." By firing well-respected federal prosecutors and replacing them with Republican loyalists, the Bush administration has politicized the judicial system.
HOMELAND SECURITY -- 9/11 VICTIMS' FAMILIES HIT SENATE CONSERVATIVES FOR STALLING COUNTERTERRORISM BILL: Yesterday, Senate conservatives blocked consideration of a bill aimed at implementing remaining recommendations of the 9/11 commission. Conservatives made "a rare procedural move, rolling five amendments into one package and submitting a cloture motion on it." Another impasse revolved around conservatives' efforts to delay an amendment introduced by Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) to provide aid for Katrina victims. After it became clear that the homeland security bill would be blocked, families of 9/11 victims called on Senate conservatives to drop their amendments and support a "clean bill." A letter to Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), signed by Voices of September 11 and Families of September 11, expressed "grave concern" that the "highly provocative, irrelevant amendments will jeopardize the passage" of the bill. The bill would implement many of the remaining recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, which include the reallocation of homeland security resources, the inspection of all air and sea cargo, and greater funding for first responders. Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) said the procedural delay could potentially force a Saturday vote on the bill. The White House has promised to veto the bill if it contains organizing rights and whistleblower protections for airport screeners.
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